Breaking the Chains: Confronting Child Marriage and Advancing Gender Justice in Lira District

 By Enachu Frederick Edmos
Founder & CEO, Purewish Foundation Uganda Published: 2024 

In the heart of Northern Uganda’s Lira District, the shadow of child marriage continues to steal the future of hundreds of girls. Rooted in poverty, conflict legacies, and harmful social norms, this practice not only denies girls their rights but also reinforces generational cycles of inequality and gender-based violence. Over the past decade, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of forced marriage. Girls as young as 13 are withdrawn from school, often traded for dowries or married off to escape economic hardship. Many of these girls become mothers while still children themselves—isolated, abused, and silenced. As the Founder of Purewish Foundation Uganda, I have dedicated my work to restoring dignity and justice for these girls. Our Voices of Dignity initiative provides a survivor-led platform for healing, vocational training, and leadership development. We work closely with community leaders, teachers, and parents to challenge the cultural narratives that normalize child marriage and to advocate for stronger legal protections and enforcement. Gender justice in Lira—and across Africa requires more than policy; it demands transformation at every level: individual, community, and systemic. We must dismantle the structures that perpetuate inequality and build spaces where girls can thrive, dream, and lead. This struggle is not isolated. It is part of a broader African and global movement for racial and gender justice. Reparations must include not only economic redress, but the full restoration of rights, agency, and opportunity for all girls and women.