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FIVE Tanzanian teenagers were detained just for being pregnant over the weekend as part of the government’s widely condemned crackdown on child pregnancies.
The girls were arrested along with their parents in the northern town of Tandahimba before being released on bail.
Tanzania has been criticised by human rights groups for its hard stance on teenage pregnancies. A law dating back to the 1960s allows schools to ban young mothers from attending and has been used to kick out more than 55,000 pregnant teens in the past decade.
As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
The announcement of a Women’s Justice Board should be cautiously welcomed, writes SABINA PRICE, but we need to see a recognition that our prison system is in crisis and disproportionately punishes some of the most vulnerable people in society
