“My parents forced me to marry. They said I would be better off married.”
-Chaonaine A., 19, Nkhotakota district. Chaonaine married a 21-year-old son of a chief when she was 16. She has four siblings, her parents are poor, and she dropped out of school in standard eight (seventh grade) because they could not buy her uniform or textbooks. Chaonaine’s husband paid her parents MK 8,000 (US$19) as dowry.