Lusaka, Zambia
Fear of an approaching famine in Zambia is prompting parents to sell their daughters to old men in exchange for food and money, the Senegalese daily Le Soleil reported this week. Preteen girls told a reporter that their parents had threatened them with terrible punishments if they didn’t accept the men’s offers. One 9-year-old said she dropped out of school two years ago to marry a rich villager at her parents’ request.
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