Improving Young Marakwet Peoples' Understanding of Marriage Rights

In Marakwet, Kenya, customary practices such as initiation rites and elders’ authority often overshadow statutory marriage laws. As a result, many young people possess only partial awareness of their legal rights, leaving them vulnerable to early marriage, gendered inequalities, and limited protection under formal justice systems. This study therefore investigated Improving Young Marakwet Peoples' Understanding of Marriage Rights. The study was guided by the following research questions: What barriers hinder young Marakwet people from understanding marriage rights? What strategies can be applied to effectively improve young Marakwet people’s awareness and understanding of marriage rights in their community context? Grounded in Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, the study employed a cross-sectional survey design complemented with qualitative methods in Marakwet East and West, Kenya. A sample of 300 youth (18–35 years) completed the Youth Marriage Rights Awareness Test, while 6 FGDs and 10 KIIs provided contextual insights. Data were analyzed using SPSS (descriptive statistics) and NVivo (thematic analysis). The study revealed that young Marakwet people face significant barriers to understanding marriage rights. YMRAT results (n = 300) showed a moderate mean score of 12/20 (60%), with 40% demonstrating insufficient understanding and only 16% strong comprehension. Normative awareness (65%) was higher than statutory (52–58%) and procedural knowledge, which remained weakest. Family and elders dominated information sources (54%), often reinforcing misinformation such as equating brideprice with legal marriage. Cultural rites, gendered silencing, and distrust of formal justice further widened gaps. Community dialogues, school-based modules, peer programs, mobile legal clinics, and local-language media emerged as promising culturally grounded strategies to improve awareness. The study concludes that young Marakwet people face cultural, educational, and structural barriers that hinder full understanding of marriage rights. Elders’ authority, initiation rites, low literacy, language mismatches, gendered silencing, and limited access to justice sustain partial awareness and a knowledge–action gap. The study recommends that interventions be culturally grounded and gender-sensitive. Community dialogues with elders and religious leaders should legitimize statutory protections, while school-based civic modules, peer educators, and women’s groups strengthen procedural literacy and safe engagement. Translating laws into Marakwet, simplifying materials, and expanding mobile clinics and market-day drives will link awareness with practice and protection.