Bernama: Child Marriage Is Statutory Rape, African Union Declares
“African leaders have taken a tough stance regarding the issue of child marriage, with the African Union (A.U.) delivering its formal position on ending child marriage in Africa at the 25th Ordinary Summit of A.U. Heads of State and Government. … The panel condemned child marriage, describing child marriage as ‘statutory rape’ and ‘a crime against humanity’ among others…” (6/16).

The Guardian: African leaders must take ‘concrete steps’ to end child marriage
“African leaders need to back their political ambitions to end child marriage with effective policies and the money to see them through, according to a global partnership fighting to end the practice. On the annual Day of the African Child on Tuesday, which this year focuses on child marriage, Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe, head of Africa engagement at Girls Not Brides, said the continent’s leaders had taken big steps in making political commitments to end the practice, but needed to do more…” (Ford, 6/16).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: African campaigners urge end to ‘scandal’ of child marriage in a generation
“It’s a scandal that any family in a continent as rich as Africa, with its vast oil and mineral wealth, should be so poor they feel forced to sell their daughter, the African Union’s goodwill ambassador on child marriage said. … [Nyaradzayi] Gumbonzvanda, a human rights lawyer from Zimbabwe, whose mother was married as a girl, said child marriage sanctioned rape and forced labor, and entrenched poverty…” (Batha, 6/16).