Argumentative Essay On Child Brides

Child marriage in the States is a serious problem. The current law for child marriage states that you must be at least eighteen years old to marry. However, state laws make exceptions if minors have parental consent. Due to the lack of awareness in this topic thirty-three states and two counties in the U.S. reported that between 2000-2015 there were a total of 170,363 minors that were married. Of which, six were twelve-year-olds, fifty-one were thirteen-year-olds, nine hundred eighty-five was fourteen years old. Not only is this number increasing but it is also alarming. The main reasons for child marriage are poverty, gender inequality, tradition/culture, education, and insecurity. Most of the child marriages happen in rural or backward areas of the country. The main reason for this is poverty for sure. Parents who have a daughter but don't earn as much choose this method to give them a better life. For the boys, the marriage does not take place but poverty triggers child labor. Another main reason behind this activity is gender inequality. Even today there are lots of countries that consider

In the article, Child Marriages in Sub-Saharan Africa, states the reasons and crazy expectations of child marriages. In Sub-Saharan Africa 39% of girls are married before the age of 18. Child marriages has spread throughout all of Africa. In West and Central Africa 42% of girls are married before age 18 and in Eastern and Southern Africa it is 36% of the girls (Child Marriages in: Sub-Saharan Africa). These number vary throughout the year yet they never drop to zero. It is a mass dilemma to outsiders yet in the depth of Africa, it a tradition that is hard to break. Daughters may be married off due to poverty or fear of safety. It is a custom in which the daughter does not have much control and marriage can be used as a leverage in a heated

Fifteen-year-old girl in Afghanistan and forced to marry a forty-year-old man. Not ready for that commitment. The wedding takes place tomorrow. In Afghanistan, young girls face this problem every day. Parents of young Afghan girls arrange their daughters to marry an older men which often ties in with domestic violence. In Afghanistan, arranged marriages do not take place because the two people have found a love for one another, but rather create domestic violence.

“Government statistics in South Sudan show half the girls there aged 15 to 19 are married, with some brides as young as 12 years old.” Many girls in countries such as South Sudan and Trinidad are married off at a young age and later face abuse from their husbands. Many of these cases go unnoticed, unpunished and numerous girls die because of birth complications. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, emphasizes the issue of marriage rights and household equality that affect real people in countries such as the United States, South Sudan and Trinidad.

In Afghan society, a forced marriage is when either the man or women is married against one’s will. This includes childhood brides and young women who are sold from their family in order to pay off debt. Adolescents that are forced into marriages in Afghanistan are consistently mistreated and abused in their households. In the article “Afghanistan: Women, Socially Bound and Officially Neglected”, it states how an Afghan practice called ‘baad’ has killed a 7-year-old victim. The girl had been given into marriage and was used as a slave

The attitude many people have towards child marriage is a negative one because it is so heavily criticized and frowned upon in our cultures. The two journalists in this documentary had this attitude as well. Stephanie Sinclair was doing a story on the burn ward in Herat, Afghanistan (Rehm & Henry, 2011). There were many cases of young girls setting themselves on fire as an attempt for suicide. The

53% of the women in Afghanistan will be married by the age of eighteen. ("Afghanistan: Child Marriage, Domestic Violence Harm Progress | Human Rights Watch.") In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, two girls, no older than seventeen, became married to a man far too old for them. When they become young wives, they are forced to grow up much faster than they should, and face things young girls shouldn’t have to face. A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseni, analyzes the hardships women in Afghanistan endure yet eventually overcome.

In the realm of Afghan marriage, women are sometimes granted the opportunity for an arranged marriage, although consequences may still ensue. Arranged marriage is just one of the many ways women are married off in Afghanistan, as well as other countries around the world. The women, who were groomed for marriage from birth, are sought after by the suitor’s relatives. The same goes for the suitors, although the men are often the ones who instigate and ask for the woman’s hand in marriage. While it may seem obvious why the two are marrying, they may happen for different reasons. “There are two types of arranged marriages in the Afghan society: those conducted for the sincere happiness of the couple, and those that resemble business transactions conducted primarily as a means to settle deals with families,” (Bashir 1). Sometimes the woman and man find each other and are pleased with one another. This is similar to Tariq and Laila’s relationship in that they found love together and their families approved it. However, it is known that things do not work out for the two at the time. Although some of the arranged marriages end happily, there is another side to them. Sometimes poor families sell off their daughters to pay off a debt or settle a feud. While these women are technically given the option to refuse, it does not come without consequences. Journalist Hannah Spruce explores this idea in further detail when she emphasizes that, “Some children who refuse to consent may find

Child soldiers have been constantly argued, neither side clearly winning. So what are child soldiers? Victims? Or criminals? Whilst reading through many articles of these tragic stories, it becomes clear that these children are victims.

Girls all over the world are forced into marriages due to financial necessity, tradition and to ensure their future. Most of these girls married are at a young age: “One third of the world’s girls are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15”( “Child Marriage Facts and Figures”). The young ages of those being married reveal how crucial it is to resolve this problem. When child marriage occurs the parents of the bride usually chose the groom for their daughters; and these grooms can be three times older than the young brides. Some children are brought into the world of marriage at the of 8 or sometimes less depending on their cultural views. The following can be used to help reduce the impact of early

I agree with Jacobs, W.E. and Nancy Spargue in article points of view: abortion and minors isn't just painful but it could be dangerous for them. They should have a parent with them to not only get out of the clinic. But to make sure she does good afterwards at home and so she could heal good. Some girls end up getting pregnant after sexual inter corse and they don’t want their parents finding out so they choose to abort. The parents of these

Childhood is a time of learning and developing skills that only comes once, and is very important. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of children aren’t getting that essential childhood time of proper development. In many third world countries children are being recruited and used as soldiers, which is taking away their time of development. “The United Nations (UN) reports that at least three hundred thousand children are involved in armed conflicts…” (Gale Student Resources). This could mean they actually fight or they are used or abused, and either way it messes with their young minds. Child conscription is not only a violation of certain laws, but a violation of a child’s right to grow up in a safe, undisturbed environment. Humanitarians everywhere see how vital it is that a child grows up the right way with the right surroundings, which doesn’t happen as a child soldier. Either way,

Child brides are a little voiced problem that occur around the world. Fourteen million girls become child brides every year, a number that is increasing due to the growing populations of countries where child marriage is common (Fisher). I chose to focus on child brides specifically in Africa and the Middle East due to the high instances of child marriages in those parts of the world. In my research I also found that child brides are very common in South Asia and South America as well. In Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, and Nepal over half of girls are married before they turn eighteen (Fisher).This is largely due to traditional tribal practices, cultural norms, and an overall lack of education.

Cultural and socioeconomic factors that reinforce child marriage differ from region to region. Where one lives within a country may strongly influence whether or not she will marry early. In India the highest rates of child marriage is concentrated in five states: Madhya Pradesh at 73%, Andhra Pradesh at 71%, Rajasthan at 68%, Bihar at 67 % and Uttar Pradesh at 64%. The median age of marriage in India is 16.4 years according to the National Family Health Survey. [8]It also found that 65% of girls are married by the time they are 18. There are many reasons why child marriage occurs but they can be put into two general categories. The first one is based on social norms, customs and religion. Virginity in India is very important. If one is raped, it is hard for her to be married. “As Vatsayyana said a couple millennia ago that a virgin bride is important, even if people don’t talk about it openly”.[1] Therefore, the younger the bride the more likely it is that she’ll be a virgin and so marrying off the daughter as young as possible, the faster the end of the parent’s responsibility to keep her a virgin.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.