The everyday lives of married girls and girls in unions

Key Informant Interview Tool (KII)

Please fill in the below table

Key Information Interviewer Notes

Researcher Name: FAHIMA NAMUGAYA
Location: KAMULI
Date: 24-04-2025
Start Time: 09:19AM
End Time: 10:22AM
Please record any factors that in your view impacted
the Interview:
(For example: Noisy location, unable to find private
location, parents/ guardians present, diverse languages
used in discussion etc.)

Record Age of Interviewee: 20

Name of the interviewee B4
Has the girlgiven consent/assent? (Y/N)
YES
If no, do not proceed with the interview.

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Introduction:
Thank you for participating in this interview. It’s very helpful to hear about your experiences as a
married girl / a girl in union.

The interview is expected to last 1 hour to 1hr 30 mins. We will have a break or two for refreshments,
but you can also ask for a break whenever you need.

We will ask you a series of questions about your life, as well as questions about education,
livelihoods, and health.

Remember, you do not have to answer any questions you do not want to, you can skip any questions
or stop the interview at any time without any consequences.

Are you okay to proceed? Great, lets get started!

A: OPENING

1.A:Tell us a little bit about yourself.

o How old are you?

o I am 20 years old

o Who lives in your household?

o My husband and my child

o Who do you usually talk to?

o My husband

o Do you identify as a person with a disability? Do you face any physical, sensory,
or other challenges in your daily life? If so, what kind?
o No

o Do you identify as religious? Do you follow a particular religion or belief system? If

so, how does it influence your life and decisions?
o I am a protestant
o
o Do you identify as an ethnic minority in your community/country?
o No

B: ABOUT THE HOUSEHOLD

1.B:

Are you married?

YES

o If YES: When did you get married and how old were you when you got married?
o I got when I was 17 years old

o What were the reasons that led to you being married at age of 17?

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 o I got pregnant and decided to marry
o Were you asked to be married, and by who?
o My husband when he found out i was pregnant he asked me to marry him

o How do you feel about being married at age of 17?

I feel good because my husband provides me with almost everything I need

o If NO: How do you define or describe your relationship status?

2.B:

How long have you known your husband/partner?

I have known him for 4 year

o How did you meet your husband/partner?

o He was working in our village and declared his love for me and he insisted
that’s when I accepted

o Prompt: How old is your husband/partner?

o He is 21 years

Do you think the difference in age affects the decision-making in your relationship?

NO

o Do you make joint decisions? Is one partner more dominant in decision-making? Do

you feel you can defy the requests or wishes of your husband?
o Yes we make joint decisions like paying rent and when food is done when talk
and decide which to pay first

Do you have any children? If yes, how many? How old are they?

I have 1 child and she is 3 years old

Were you pregnant or was your child already born before your wedding?

Yes

**Do you know whether either of your parents married / were in a union at a similar age?

Yes my mother was 16 years when she got married to my father

**How has your life changed since you were 17 years compared to your life previously?

My parents used to decide for me especially what to eat but now I think on what I will cook. I
got a baby, I am now a parent with lots of responsibilities i.e rent, food and others

C: CHILD MARRIAGE IN THE COMMUNITY

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1.C:

Do you know other married girls/girls in union in your community?

YES

o IF YES: When you think about girls in your community who have got married recently, what
do you think are the common reasons that young girls get married in your community?
o Lack of basic needs at home yet boys promise to provide if they get married

o Do you think fewer girls under 18 are getting married in your community since your
parents’/guardians/older relatives’ generation? Why?

o No, the number of girls under 18 that are getting married has increased because girls
are getting to the sexual life at a very young age

o Are girls under 18 in more love marriages?

o Yes

**Do you know boys under 18 who are married/ in unions in your community? Are there as many as
girls?

No, boys are fewer because they take time to marry since they are the providers. They
therefore think of the responsibilities that await them after marrying and they decide to
wait unlike girls who are being looked after in marriage

o Do you think the girls getting married in your community/in unions are marrying boys of a
similar age to them?
o No

o If NO:Are girls mostly marrying men over 18?What is the typical age difference?
Why do they think there are age differences in these relationships?
Girls are getting married to older men because they believe that older men have
some money and are in position to provide basic needs to their families. A girl
of 15 or 16 would get married to a man of 25 or 35 years old.

2.C:

Is child marriage legal in your context?

NO

Is child marriage accepted in your context?

o Probe: who they say accept and do not accept, and whether there are differences,
e.g.by community leaders, relatives, school community, peers, wider community

Skip if they have already answered that they are not legally married: Is your marriage is legally
registered?

If YES (they are married):

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 o If applicable to cultural context: Did you take part in initiation rites? At what age?
o Did you register your marriage at a later date than when you recognise the
marriage to have started?
o Probe, if they seem comfortable to discuss: falsifying records, such as
whether official records match the real dates they got married or were
born

If NO (they are not married):

o Is your relationship recognised under your religious faith or in any other non-legal
capacity?
o Probe: in their community, does being recognised by her faith but not
legally registered make a difference?
o How does being in a non-registered marriage affects the kinds of support services
you can access?
Prompt: health services, financial services etc.
o How else is being in a non-registered marriage different from those is a registered
marriage?

If UNSURE:

o Is your relationship recognised under your religious faith or in any other non-legal
capacity?
o NO, our relationship is not recognised under our religious, a relationship
that is recognised in faith is so much respected
o
o Do you feel that being legally registered makes a difference for what services you
can access?
o NO

D:EDUCATION

1.D:

o Do you currently attend school or other learning programmes around skills development and
vocational training? (Yes/No)

NO

o If YES:
o What level are you studying?

o Probe, if they specified that they took a break, but came back: Explain the break you
took from school, and what made it easier for you to return.
 Prompt: financial support, childcare, creche, not feeling judged

o Have you faced any challenges from the school, teachers, or other students in
attending school/the learning programme?

o How do you manage your time between studying and your other responsibilities?

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 o Do you need your husband’s consent to attend school/the learning programme?(This
is regarding whether the husband needs to be aware of the girl utilising these
services, rather than the husband consent needed by the service itself.)

o What (services or support) would help you stay in school?

 Prompt: financial support, childcare, creche, community mother’s support
facilities

o Do you intend/desire to carry on studying? What are your plans when you finish
school or the learning programme?

o If NO (they do not attend school/ learning programme):

o How long have you been out of school?

o 4 Years

o Why do you no longer attend school?

o When I got pregnant my then boyfriend suggested us to get married and I dropped
out of school

o What do you do now instead of going to school?

o Nothing , I am a stay at home wife

o Would you like to return to school?

o I don’t want to go back to school

o If yes: What support would you need to return to school?

o If no: Why not?

o I have taken long without being in school and besides I am married

2.D:

o **In your community, is it common for married girls/girls in unions to be out of school?
o Yes

o Why/why not?

o Because when a girl marries her parents stop supporting her, the responsibility is
taken by the husband yet most times the boys the girls marry be unemployed and
therefore can’t keep them in school

o In your community, do other girls and boys your age think that married girls/girls in unions
need to stay in education? What do they think?

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 o No, most times girls marry because they are not getting the basic needs they need
including scholastic materials so they don’t it’s a good idea to stay in school yet they
don’t have the basic materials needed at school

o
 Do they judge girls for leaving education for marriage?
 Yes, girls and boys too are judged for wasting their parents effort when
they leave education for marriage

o In your community, do other people in your parents’ or grandparents’ generations think that
married girls/girls in unions need to stay in education? What do they think?
o No, they think married girls can’t concentrate in school because of the responsibilities
that come with getting married

E: ACCESS TO SERVICES OR RESOURCES

1.E:

o What services do you usually access in your community?

o Medical services like immunization

o Are the services that you access aware of your marital status?
o NO
o
o If NO: Probe why they feel they have to hide
o I don’t hide but my marital status isn’t asked for

o If YES: Probe why they can be open about this?

o [Skip if participant responds with no services]:How did you find out about these services?

o Would you be able to access these services if you were a girl who had yet to be married / in a
union? Why/Why not?

o Yes everyone is advised to go for the services regardless of your marital status

o **Would you be able to access these services if you were once married and now divorced?
Why/Why not?
Yes everyone is advised to go for the services regardless of your marital status

o Is there anything you wanted to access but is not available to you?

o No I don’t need any services

IF YES:

o Why do you think you could not access these services or resources?

Prompt: Stigma, lack of mobility, husband’s consent needed but not given,
lack of awareness, inaccessibility

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 o Based on unmarried girls/girls not in unions in the community, would you be
able to access these same services if you were unmarried?
o Yes
o
o Based on divorced girls and women in the community, would you be able to
access these same services if you were divorced?
o Yes

o What services have you been told were available for your parents’ generation?
The same we have now anything new

o **What do you think about the availability of services in recent years?

o Probe: Do you think services have gotten more available or less available in recent
years?
o They are more available for example the medical services previously people used to
move long distances to reach hospitals but currently health services have been made
more accessible

2.E:

Read out Story 2 below and follow-up with prompts and questions to understand reaction to the story
and their opinions about it. Adapt the story by changing the details to be relevant locally (e.g. name,
country, location

[INSERT IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME] is a 15-year-old girl living in a rural community in [INSERT
COUNTRY]. She has just married her 29-year-old husband, [INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S
NAME] and lives with his mother and father and his two younger siblings both aged under 5 years old.
[INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S NAME]’s parents often work in the field, and so [INSERT
IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME] often cares for her husband’s siblings and cooks for the family most
days, whilst[INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S NAME] spends his time working as a driver. She is
attending school full-time but is struggling to manage her time between her schoolwork and caretaking
responsibilities. She is feeling pressured from [INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S NAME] and his
parents to leave school to support their family. They say that as[INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S
NAME]is earning money for both of them, she does not need the skills for an income and as she is
living in [INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S NAME]’s family home, the least she can do to earn her
share is to caretake for the family.

In juggling her time between her responsibilities, [INSERT IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME] is unable to
spend time with her own parents and her school friends. She is feeling lonely and wants support with
her situation.

o What advice would you give Ritah?

o Ritah should remain in school, she will go back in marriage after school

o What do you think Ritah or the people in her life can do to help the situation?

o Since Ritah is below 18 years of age her people can go to the police and bring her
home

o
o Is ritah’s experience something that you think happens in the community?

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 o Yes, they are many girls experiencing the same situation

o **What would people in the community think of Ritah’s situation?

o My community thinks that girls who go in marriage when young should be left to learn
their lessons maybe later they would realise that marriage was the worst mistake they
have evr done and then concentrate on school first

3 years later, aged 18, [INSERT IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME] and [INSERT IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S
NAME]have moved out of his family home and they have no children. [INSERT IMAGINARY
HUSBAND’S NAME]blames[INSERT IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME]for not being able to get pregnant.
He shouts at her and it makes her scared.

o There could be a number of reasons why [INSERT IMAGINARY GIRL’S NAME] and[INSERT
IMAGINARY HUSBAND’S NAME]cannot conceive.In your community, where could the
couple turn to for sexual and reproductive health services?
• Is there sufficient information about sexual and reproductive health accessible to girls
in your community? Where have you accessed this information?
• From health centres

o In your community, is there a pressure on girls in marriages to have children?

• Probe: by a certain age
• Yes , after 3 years in marriage because most times they expect the lady to
concive immediately after marrying

o If the relationship was to turn violent, who could Ritah turn to for help? Are there specific
services?
o She should run away and go back to her family to get help

o **What do you think could be done to strengthen services for girls who are having trouble in
their marriages

o I really don’t know

o If Ritah wanted to leave her marriage, could she get a divorce? How would she be supported
(e.g. do families take them back in)?

o It’s not easy but she can go to the authorities for help

• Do you know if girls can be financially independent if they leave a marriage?

• If she has a job she can have her own money

• What do people in your community think of girls leaving a marriage?

• Some people think that such girls have no manners or it’s their family habit

• Would already having children make leaving a marriage more difficult?

It would be hard but you have to think about the well being of your children, how they would
be if you left

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F: SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ANDRIGHTS

1.F:

Have you accessed healthcare services related to your sexual and reproductive health?

NO

o [If YES]: What is your experience with healthcare workers and services?
 Probe: Ask if sufficient, did they help you in the way you sought? Why was it
helpful or why not?
o For participants with children: What help and resources did you receive whilst pregnant
and after childbirth?
 Why was it helpful or why not?
o [If child marriage is illegal in the country]: do you hide that you are married from these
services?
 [If NO:] If you needed to access sexual health information and
services would you be able to?
 I would get such information from a government hospital

 How would you describe the decision-making in your marriage or union when it comes to
family planning or contraceptive use?
o What is your husband’s thoughts on family planning or contraceptive use?
o We decide on family planning issues together with my husband. He supports
me on using family planning especially for child spacing.

o Would you like for a change in the decision-making in your marriage or union around
these issues?

o No

o Do you need your husband’s (or any other third party) consent to attend sexual and
reproductive health services?(This is regarding whether the husband needs to be aware of the
girl utilising these services, rather than the husband consent needed by the service itself.)
 Is this something you feel you cannot discuss with your husband?

 Yes I need my husband’s consent even though he is opened mined on

family planning

o **Would you have been able to access these services before you were married?
Yes, it’s easier to access these services because they believe that it helps children
to grow and also protect themselves

o Do people in your community accept married girls/girls in unions using contraception to freely
plan and space out their pregnancies?
 Probe: access to contraception and abortion, particularly for married girls/girls
in unions
 Probe: Are husbands in the community accepting of this?
 Probe if appropriate: does the girl’s husband accept this

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Yes because when a woman gives birth every year, they tend to judge her so they advise
married women to use family planning for child spacing. However they don’t accept married
women to do abortion because it may cause her death

o Do people in your community accept unmarried girls/ girls not in unions using contraceptive and
maternal health services?
o Yes

o **In your opinion, do you think the number of girls falling pregnant has increased in your
community?
Yes

o If YES, why?
o The number of girls getting pregnant has increased because they don’t want to
use family planning since they are told that family planning would burn their eggs

o If NO, why?
o Prompt: CSE

G: LIVELIHOODS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND DECISION-MAKING

1.G:

What is your households’ main source of income currently?

Welding

o What actions or approaches do you or your household take to cope when you cannot access
certain necessities?
Spend savings, my husband brings some and i give some as well

o : Do you have independent access to the money you make?

o Do you have independent access to your husband’s money?
o No

o you want to find work?

o Probe: if the girl is caring for a child/children, would they want to work when the child
is at school/older?
o Yes i would love to find a job and i would work regardless of having children
o Probe: what skills they have
None

o What types of job or income-generating opportunities have been available to you or other
married girls in similar situations?
There are no job opportunities

o **Is there any support or help from institutions to find jobs or income generating
opportunities?
o Yes
o If YES:describe the support

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 o Yes, i need support. I would need capital to start up a business or maybe
support in learning a skill like tailoring

o if NO:What support would you want?

2.G:

o Who makes decisions in the household?

o My husband

o **Did you expect the change in the kinds of responsibilities you have taken on since this
union/marriage? How did you feel about the change in responsibilities?
o No, i didn’t expect the change and i feel bad about it

What would help you to manage these responsibilities?

Getting help from husband and getting a job or getting a business

o What responsibilities does your partner take on?

o He pays rent, buys food and provides us with every necessity

Would you like for a change in the share of household responsibilities?

Yes
o What would help you in caring for your child/children?

o Yes

H: THE FUTURE.

o What are your aspirations for the future?

o I want to have a job and also get myself a home and stop renting
o
o What do you hope for your child?
o I want my child to study in a good school and also have a good life
o
o Who is responsible for providing you support to achieve this and what does that support
look like? What support do you need in the future?
o My husband if he gets money, he can support me in starting a business
.
o **Reflect on if you would like for your child to follow the same path you have taken in life. Would
you be supportive of your child marrying under the age of 18? Why/why not?
o No, I would love my child to study and find a job so that she gets married when she has
some money to maintain her life without being fully dependent on her husband
o
o If Yes: would you arrange this yourself?
 Probe: views on arranged marriages vs love marriages for under 18s.

CLOSING

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 o Do you have any questions or concerns about the study?

If they ask how the study information will be used, please explain the following:

We will write up all findings anonymously, meaning that anything you may say will not be
quoted directly to you in any of our publications.

o Would you be interested in keeping in touch with us for potential interview opportunities in the
future? These interview opportunities can be held anonymously.

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