Devota is stopping child marriages
Devota is holding her government to account on gender inequality issues in Tanzania. She was trained in advocacy by Restless Development. I met Devota and made a short film about her inspirational story.
What are some of the biggest gender inequality issues in Tanzania?
There are many gender inequality issues such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, child marriage, and a lack of access to youth friendly sexual health services and education.
For example one in three girls are married as children in Tanzania. Where I live in Iringa, there was a girl in the village who was forced to be married at 14. Since I have had my training as an advocate, I was able to report it to the police station because her parents didn’t know that it was illegal. Then I provided them with education and supported them to end the marriage. But the girl has never been to school. She doesn’t know how to read or write. These are challenges that also must be addressed.
What are your hopes for the future?
In our society, men are given priority so I am fighting to make sure society understands the equality of men and women. I am determined to support women and girls to achieve the future they dream of. I hope one day to run an empowerment initiative for women and girls.
Devota holds the tablet she uses to collect vital data about gender inequality issues for her district-level government.
Watch Devota’s story
