KENYA: Caroline Mwita: "I wish I had listened to my mother, who advised against getting married early"
Photo: Bristol-Myers Squibb
"I do not know whether I got HIV from my husband or from [one of] these men"
Kisii, 29 December 2008 (PlusNews) - At the age of 17, Caroline Mwita, from Kisii town in southwestern Kenya, has already had four husbands. She talked to IRIN/PlusNews about her first-hand experience of wife inheritance, a traditional practice in western Kenya.
"I met my future husband when I was around 13 years old and I went to Kisii town to live with my father, who worked there as a watchman.
"We talked [she and her future husband] and he told me that he was working in one of the supermarkets as a loader, and we started going out.
"I managed to convince him that I should finish my primary schooling before we could marry. Unfortunately, before I could even sit for my final primary education exam, I became pregnant and we decided to get married.
"After only one year, my husband died. He had been sick on and off but I did not expect him to die that soon. After the burial, I was told that I would be inherited and I was scared, because the man who would inherit me was old enough to be my father.
"I had no choice but to do as they wanted. I could not even go back to my parents because my father [agreed with] these people. All I could do was cry, but I soon got used to it.
"The first man to inherit me died, and our child died soon after birth. And it is then that I realised I was [HIV] positive.
"The second man only stayed for three months and left to inherit another woman. I am now living with the third man to inherit me after my husband's death.
"I do not know whether I got HIV from my husband or from [one of] these men. We have sex without even protection, yet you cannot even tell them a thing.
"It is sad, because somebody is just inheriting you, yet the community gives them complete control over you.
"At times I wish I had listened to my mother, who advised me against getting married early."
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Theme (s): Gender Issues, HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews,
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]