Girls as young as eight being forced to go to sex camps in Mozambique and Zambia to prepare them for child marriage 

• Parents are fined if they do not allow their daughter to go to the camps
• Girls are cut in punishment if they fail to perform sexual acts correctly
• More than 40 per cent of girls in Mozambique and Zambia are married before they turn 18
• Men in the communities 'don't want to marry girls who are uninitiated' 

By Imogen Calderwood For Mailonline

Published: 16:13 EST, 21 May 2015 | Updated: 16:43 EST, 21 May 2015

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Too young for marriage: A young girl in Mozambique, where parents are sending their daughters to child sex camps to be taught how to please a man in bed (file photo)

Girls as young as eight are being sent to sex camps in Mozambique and Zambia that are designed to prepare them for marriage by teaching them how to be good at sex. 

The sordid training begins as soon as the girl begins menstruating and sometimes involves sticks being inserted inside the girls, according to child protection activists.

If girls are deemed to have performed the sexual acts incorrectly they are cut by the women in charge as punishment, according to Persilia Muianga of international aid agency World Vision. 

The practice was revealed at an international conference on ending child marriage, held in the Morrocan city of Casablanca this week. 

Muianga - a child protection expert - went on to explain that some mothers in the communities force their daughters to sleep with a man before they have even begun menstruating, in the belief that this can bring on menstruation earlier. 

Mystery surrounds the schooling for those who have not been initiated at the camps, creating an attraction in the communities for the week-long training.

Anglican priest Jackson Jones Katete that the initiations in Zambia begin for girls between eight and 13 years old, speaking at the conference.   

'You ... pay these (elderly) women to do this torturing to your child,' he said. 

'Immediately the girls come out of the camp, they are saying ... you are now ready for sex. And then the men come ... and then they begin to do the betrothals.'

He added that men do not want to marry the girls unless they have been successfully initiated. 

Community leaders also fine parents if they do not allow their daughter to attend the camp, which also teach girls about hygiene, domestic duties and how to conduct themselves in the community. 

While these fines can ruin a family's finances in poor rural areas, the money that they receive when their daughter is married off after the camps can provide a much-needed income.

The sexual age of consent in Mozambique is 12, added Muianga, which means that many young girls put their lives at risk by having babies before their bodies are ready.  

Childbirth injuries such as fistulas - caused by prolonged labour - are a big problem among the communities, the aid agency told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

Despite the fact child marriage is illegal in both countries, nearly half of girls in Mozambique and more than 40 per cent in Zambia are married before they turn 18.  

But World Vision is fighting against sex camps and child marriage, by training church leaders to tackle issues within the community. 

The organisation will also help develop a similar initiative for Muslim communities.  

Katete, the director of the Anglican Street Children's Program in Zambia, said church leaders have great authority in his country.

He added that they have an important role to play in addressing initiations and child marriage within their congregations. 

One way to fight early marriage, according to the organisation, is to keep girls in school. But most rural communities do not have schools nearby.

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Fighting child marriage: Keeping girls in school is one way to avoid an early marriage, according to child protection organisation World Vision. More than 700 million women today were married when they were children, while around half of girls in Mozambique and Zambia are married before they are 18 - despite the fact child marriage is illegal (file photo)

Furthermore, as teachers in these regions are usually men the girls are sent the signal that only boys belong in schools and deserve education.    

'We are now saying that you should build schools in villages and have female teachers there as well who can act as role models,' said Katete. 

The three-day conference which ended today is hosted by Girls Not Brides, a global partnership committed to eradicating child marriage. 

According to Girls Not Brides, more than 700 million women who are alive today were married as children, and if no action is taken a further 142 million children will be married by the end of the decade. 

Mozambique has the 10th highest child marriage rate in the world - at 48 per cent - and Zambia has the 15th highest - at 42 per cent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3091752/Girls-young-eight-forced-sex-camps-Mozambique-Zambia-prepare-child-marriage.html#ixzz3arok2ka1
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