Page 17 TANZANIA (CONTINUED) Ending Sex Discrimination in the Law EQUALITY NOW – BEIJING+25 Act respectively, we direct the Government through the Attorney General within a period of one (1) year from the date of this order to correct the complained anomalies within the provisions of section 13 and 17 of the Law of Marriage Act and in lieu thereof put 18 years as the eligible age for marriage in respect of both boys and girls.” The appeal against the ruling filed by the Attorney General was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in October 2019. The Government now needs to implement the decision of the High Court and rectify the inequality in the law. Article 13(1) of the Constitution of Tanzania: All persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without any discrimination, to protection and equality before the law. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (MISSISSIPPI) Mississippi Code 1972: Section 93-1-5. 1) Every male who is at least seventeen (17) years old and every female who is at least fifteen (15) years old shall be capable in law of contracting marriage. However, males and females under the age of twenty-one (21) years must furnish the circuit clerk satisfactory evidence of consent to the marriage by the parents or guardians of the parties. It shall be unlawful for the circuit court clerk to issue a marriage license until the following conditions precedent have been complied with…. (d) If the male applicant is under seventeen (17) years of age or the female is under fifteen (15) years of age, and satisfactory proof is furnished to the judge of any circuit, chancery or county court that sufficient reasons exist and that the parties desire to be married to each other and that the parents or other person in loco parentis of the person or persons so under age consent to the marriage, then the judge of any such court in the county where either of the parties resides may waive the minimum age requirement and by written instrument authorize the clerk of the court to issue the marriage license to the parties if they are otherwise qualified by law…. Take Action – United States Of America (Mississippi) President Donald Trump Office of the President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Email Portal: https://www.whitehouse. gov/contact/ Email: president@whitehouse.gov Twitter: @realDonaldTrump Governor Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi P.O. Box 139, Jackson, MS 39205 Email: support@msegov.com Twitter: @PhilBryantMS Note: The Mississippi Code, 1972 applies only to the State of Mississippi. There is no federal law applicable to the entire country which prescribes the minimum age of marriage for all persons within the United States. However, under 18 United States Code section 2243, it is a defense to the crime of statutory rape of a minor under the age of 16 years if the persons engaging in the sexual act were married to each other. This provision legitimizes child marriage under federal law. It also provides for different standards of protection to minors from statutory rape based on their marital status and in some cases would legitimize rape of children. Take Action here.27 Section 2243: (a) Sexual Abuse Of a Minor.—Whoever, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or