In South Africa, ukuthwala is the practice of abducting young girls and forcing them into marriage, often with the consent of their parents. The practice occurs mainly in rural parts of South Africa, in particular the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The girls who are involved in this practice are frequently under-aged, including some as young as eight. The practice received negative publicity, with media reporting in 2009 that more than 20 Eastern Cape girls are forced to drop out of school every month because of ukuthwala.
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Origins
In South Africa, the custom originated from the Xhosa people, though the practice has expanded into different ethnic groups. The act of ukuthwala traditionally required the culprit to pay one or more head of cattle to the father or legal guardian of the girl. Unsuspecting girls who had not consented to ukuthwala usually did not object to its purpose. Sometimes the girl genuinely did not wish to be married, although usually girls were conditioned from childhood to look forward to the day, and to believe that marriage and childbearing are the fulfilment of life. A modern interpretation of this practice encourages men to abduct young virgin girls (commonly under 18) for the purpose of marriage.
Prevalence
In Lusikisiki in 2009, there were instances of young girls, from orphanages, being forced into marriages to older men. There have been instances of young girls being forced into illegal marriages to old widowed men (about 55 to 70 years).
The practice of ukuthwalwa has been apologised as a mock abduction or an irregular proposal intended to achieve a traditional law marriage.(Bennett Customary Law in South Africa -2004)
Even though the laws are not stringent enough to curb such a custom, The Parliament of The Republic of South Africa is focusing on preventive measures to empower women to report cases of exploitation and mobilizing community action for such incidents.