Bride price leads to abuse of women.The practice of paying bride price bride price: see marriage. is one of the factors contributing to women in Tanzania suffering sexual abuse, battery and denial of their right to own property, a study conducted by the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA TAMWA Tanzania Media Women's Association ) says. The association's report is based on a survey it conducted between January and March in 10 of Tanzania mainland's 21 regions. A resident of Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam Largest city (pop., 1995 est.: 1,747,000), capital, and major port of Tanzania. Founded in 1862 by the sultan of Zanzibar, it came under the German East Africa Co. in 1887. , Lucy Koloa, told IRIN IRIN Integrated Regional Information Networks (humanitarian news agency covering sub-Saharan Africa) IRIN Investor Relations Information Network IRIN Insurance Regulatory Information Network : "Paying bride price is sometimes regarded as buying someone. When my husband died 15 years ago, some of his relatives suggested that his younger brother should take me as his second wife. I refused to accept such nonsense. I was only 28 years old then. I left that family, with my two children whom I have managed to raise as a single parent. No one from that family is coming to visit me or my two children, not even the one who was prepared to inherit me." According to the report, some families force their daughters to drop out of school to get married; sometimes to rich old men who are able to pay huge sums in bride price without even testing for HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. , the virus that causes AIDS. Source: IRIN, August 2006 |
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