Tanzania: Punishment Won't Stop Teenage Pregnancies in Tanzania Because 'Bad Behaviour' Isn't the Cause

By Kate Pinock, University of Oxford

In Tanzania, if you're a schoolgirl and fall pregnant, it could mean the end of your education. Even though successive governments have made a push for girls education, those that fall pregnant are routinely expelled from school, and prevented from returning. Most recently this punitive approach was taken to the extreme when school girls were arrested and may now be forced to testify in court as to who got them pregnant.

These harsh reactions are as a result of dated laws which bar teenage mothers from schooling. They are a drastic attempt to prevent pregnancy in a society where engaging in sex before marriage is seen as shameful, reckless and immoral. In 2002, these laws were updated to not only exclude girls for becoming pregnant, but barred them from reentering school once they become mothers.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Kenya has taken the opposite approach. Girls are actively encouraged to stay in school for as long as possible and steps are taken to support their re-entry after they give birth.

Tanzania's approach isn't working. According to government data, the number of pregnancies in girls aged between 15 - 19 continues to rise - increasing from 23% in 2010 to 27% in 2015. This is higher than it was 20 years ago. Neighbouring Kenya has not seen such rises, and teenage pregnancy rates have stayed at around 18% for the last five years.

Despite the failures of the current approach, Tanzania hasn't reviewed its effectiveness or considered replacing it.

International condemnation over the arrests also misses the real issues involved. These tend to present the pregnant teenagers as victims of sexual violence, obscuring the possibility of girls having any agency over their sexuality.