The invisibility of babies as subjects of rights in the law and in programs to combat premature unions and early pregnancy in Mozambique

Abstract

This article was motivated by the participation of one of the researchers in a project to combat premature unions, in the central region of Mozambique, entitled Capoeira For a Future, as part of the Global Program for the Child Marriage (2016). Entirely designed, in this region, for girls (children and teenagers), the project did not include the fruits of these unions, which resulted in significant changes in their way of existing. Methodologically, we are supported by a bibliographical review of authors who deal with the social participation of babies, in the areas of anthropology and education; contextualization of the Law to Prevent and Combat Premature Unions of 2019, and fieldwork carried out. The invisibility of babies in the design of public policies and in academia itself is the flip side of their real massive presence. We conclude that a truly democratic citizenship needs to include babies as subjects of public policies that meet their own interests and needs.