DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 13 -- IN Tanzania, Valentines Day is increasingly visible in streets, shopping malls, social media and entertainment spaces.

While promoted as a celebration of love, the day has taken on a commercial and social pressure that exposes deep gender inequalities and, in some cases, fuels violence against women, children and even poor men.

The modern Valentines celebration often equates love with money expensive gifts, hotel outings, alcohol, and public displays of romance. In a country where many young people struggle with unemployment and low incomes, these expectations create harmful pressures.

For women and girls, love is frequently framed as something to be “earned” or proven, sometimes through sex or sub...