It is an unfortunate fact of life that there are adult men who see nothing wrong in having an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl.
I read a report in an old Nigerian newspaper about a 35-year old woman in a village outside Port Harcourt who was considered cursed by her community because she had been unable to have children despite almost 20 years trying. In keeping with Nigerian culture, two husbands had divorced her for this failure.
She began what most of us would consider to be an inappropriate relationship with the 10 year old son of a neighbor. The boy was besotted with his "auntie" and the woman felt lonely.
Three months on it was discovered she was pregnant. In a small community everybody knows what everybody else is doing, and it was acknowledged that this woman had received no other male visitors. In keeping with the law of this non-Christian community, the boy was obliged to go through a "native law and custom" marriage with the woman. Not only a father at almost 11 years old but also a husband.
The other unattached women in the village began looking at the boy with new eyes, and so the wife began getting money making ideas. She could rent out her young husband to service these other lonely women. His stern-faced 53 year old "mother-in-law" put her foot down. She was not going to allow her young son-in-law to be passed around the adult females like a toy - no matter how much the boy himself liked the idea.
The Chief's of the community called a meeting, and finally ruled in mother-in-law's favor, placing a ban on the boy taking additional wives until the age of 16. Now 12 years old with his 37 year old wife expecting a second child, the community is once more left in peace to go about its daily routine.
I read a report in an old Nigerian newspaper about a 35-year old woman in a village outside Port Harcourt who was considered cursed by her community because she had been unable to have children despite almost 20 years trying. In keeping with Nigerian culture, two husbands had divorced her for this failure.
She began what most of us would consider to be an inappropriate relationship with the 10 year old son of a neighbor. The boy was besotted with his "auntie" and the woman felt lonely.
Three months on it was discovered she was pregnant. In a small community everybody knows what everybody else is doing, and it was acknowledged that this woman had received no other male visitors. In keeping with the law of this non-Christian community, the boy was obliged to go through a "native law and custom" marriage with the woman. Not only a father at almost 11 years old but also a husband.
The other unattached women in the village began looking at the boy with new eyes, and so the wife began getting money making ideas. She could rent out her young husband to service these other lonely women. His stern-faced 53 year old "mother-in-law" put her foot down. She was not going to allow her young son-in-law to be passed around the adult females like a toy - no matter how much the boy himself liked the idea.
The Chief's of the community called a meeting, and finally ruled in mother-in-law's favor, placing a ban on the boy taking additional wives until the age of 16. Now 12 years old with his 37 year old wife expecting a second child, the community is once more left in peace to go about its daily routine.