“Evelina,” 17, with her 3-year-old daughter “Hope,” in Migori county, western Kenya. Evelina is in Form 2, the second year of lower secondary school. After her baby was born, a friend encouraged her to go back to school. Although Evelina cannot afford to pay school fees, the school’s head teacher allows her to stay in school.
© 2018 Smita Sharma for Human Rights Watch
“Angela,” 20, walks with her son near her home after returning from school in Migori county, western Kenya. She is a Form 4 student at a girls-only school. Angela became pregnant when her trainee teacher offered to pay some of her primary school fees in return for sex. Her father tried to marry her off to suitors after she gave birth, but Angela’s mother fought against this and supported her return to school. She wants to go to college and study nursing.
© 2018 Smita Sharma for Human Rights Watch
A mural in a lower secondary school in the city of Sédhiou, southern Senegal, promotes abstinence to tackle HIV/AIDS. Photograph by Elin Martínez.
© 2017 Human Rights Watch
A painting by Rafiki Social Development Organization, displayed outside its office in Kahama district, Shinyanga, Tanzania. The painting aims to create awareness about sexual abuse of girls on their way to schools, and shows a female student refusing to take money from an adult man, saying “Sidanganyiki” or “I cannot be deceived” in Kiswahili. Photograph by Elin Martínez.
© 2016 Human Rights Watch
“Evelina,” 17, from Migori county, western Kenya, dropped out of the first year of lower secondary school when she got pregnant. She received no information or advice about policies that allowed her to continue going to school while she was pregnant. She wants to continue studying so she can find a job and care for her child.
© 2018 Smita Sharma for Human Rights Watch
“Ruhiyyeh,” 17, from the city of Kolda, southern Senegal, got pregnant when she was in the final year of lower secondary school. The school’s principal and a secondary school teacher encouraged her to go back to school after delivery, and now ensure she gets time off when her baby is unwell. Photograph by Elin Martínez.
© 2017 Human Rights Watch
“Eileen,” 23, dropped out of Form 2, the second year of lower secondary school, at age 17, when her school conducted a pregnancy test and school officials and parents found out she was pregnant. In Tanzania, school officials routinely subject girls to forced pregnancy testing as a disciplinary measure to expel pregnant students from schools. Photograph by Elin Martínez.
© 2016 Human Rights Watch
Students enrolled in the final year of lower secondary school in the classroom in a village in Kolda region, southern Senegal. Adolescent mothers and married girls study in this school. Photograph by Elin Martínez.
© 2017 Human Rights Watch
“Harriet,” 17, from Migori county, western Kenya, dropped out of the first year of lower secondary school when she got pregnant. She received no information or advice about policies that allowed her to continue going to school while she was pregnant. She wants to continue studying so she can find a job and care for her child.
© 2018 Smita Sharma for Human Rights Watch