Equality Now, a women’s right advocacy group has filed a case against the Tanzanian government at the Africa Court on Human and People’s Rights over a law passed to expel pregnant girls from school.
The organization, in a statement, said the decision to initiate legal action was its last resort after years of lobbying the government to reverse the ban.
The Tanzanian government has not officially responded to the suit.
It is worthwhile to note that a law passed in 2002 allows for the expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls.
The law says the girls can be expelled and excluded from school for “offences against morality” and “wedlock”.
Women’s rights groups have been urging the government to change the law.
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According to a Human Rights Watch report, at least 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy.
Equality Now said the ban was discriminatory and had trapped many girls in a cycle of poverty.
