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Cultural practice Gonyalelwa lapa’ occurs when a family chooses to marry a woman, regardless of whether she has children or not, with the intention of her bearing children for their deceased son. Nevertheless, young individuals who are raised within the context of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ encounter certain difficulties. This manuscript asserts that, despite these challenges, there are also favorable perspectives regarding this cultural practice. The research endeavor aimed to examine and elucidate the reflections of young individuals who were raised within the framework of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’. For this purpose, qualitative research methods were employed, specifically adopting a phenomenological approach within an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual framework. Data was gathered from a sample of twenty-three young individuals (including both males and females) utilizing purposive and snowball sampling techniques and subsequently subjected to thematic data analysis. The investigation exposed that growing up in ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ has had an impact on the youth in diverse manners. These encounters entail mistreatment, insufficient monetary assistance resulting in starvation, gender-based prejudice, especially directed towards females who are not biologically related to their mothers' "marital family", and sensing exclusion and inhospitality within these kinships. Transdisciplinary contribution: This study contributes to the understanding of the effects of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice on young people from a variety of disciplines such as cultural dimensions, psychological and socio-legal. The findings call for the need for multidisciplinary interventions and policy makers to mitigate the negative consequences of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice on young people who are raised within this context.

Chobeliso, as it is known in Lesotho, is the practice of abducting young girls for marriage. Despite global authorities establishing child marriage as a violation of human rights, chobeliso continues to be practiced, particularly in communities that perceive it as a customary, religious and/or social norm. Furthermore, limitations of legislation may inadvertently contribute to perpetuating forced child marriages. This paper explores the role of the Lesotho legislature in responding to child abductions for forced marriages. A sample of 10 adult female participants from the Semonkong area in Lesotho, who were abducted and forced to marry as children, were selected using a snowball sampling technique. In-depth interviews were used to collect data that were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that most women were abducted and forced into marriage while they were under the legal age of marriage and the offenders were not prosecuted. There are limitations of law in prosecuting cultural practices considered customary by the Basotho people. Even though existing laws protect children's rights, Basotho people perceive forced marriage as acceptable. This paper argues that preventing forced child marriage requires strengthened legal frameworks to ensure increased awareness, greater enforcement of existing laws and severe punishment to increase deterrence measures.