Child Marriage And Low Levels Of Education

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

Agreements such as this can lift the burden of paying for a girl’s education, thus making it easier for parents to choose to educate their children, instead of marrying them off. In rural areas of underdeveloped countries, the practice of child marriage is on the rise due to the fact that most of the girls being married off are not educated enough to know there are laws in place to protect them. Being oblivious of their rights, children are being married off before they are able to comprehend the harm brought upon them. Having knowledge of laws that protects them from being married before they are ready can assist them in taking steps to prevent the occurrence of early marriage. Educating young girls about their rights is one way of ensuring that one child may be kept safe from having to face the atrocities of marriage with mostly older men. We can accomplish this by setting up organizations that can go to different villages and provide information on how marriage at a young age can have negative effects on the health of young wives. These organizations could even work with the government to provide shelters for girls who are trying to escape the wickedness of early marriage.

Poverty is cyclical and the best indicator if a child will end up in poverty is if her parents live in poverty. One common practices among families with girls living in poverty is child marriages. It has been found that poverty is the main driver of child marriage and traps girls and their families in a cycle of poverty (Poverty Girls). The practice of child marriage is more common in families who are already in poverty and perpetuates the cycle. In recent years, child marriage has gained increasing prominence on international and national development agendas. The issue of child marriage has been heavily criticized in India because of its continued practice after appropriate legislation has been passed against it. Child marriage has always been a common practice in India and has continued to flourish because of deep rooted social and cultural customs, illiteracy, poverty, inadequate education opportunities, inferior status of women in society, and poor law enforcement (Bhanderi).

Millions of girls each year are forced into marriage as children, often to men several times their age. The rates of girls being forced into marriage under the age of eighteen in developing countries around the world is as much as one in five, and as many as one in nine girls are married by the age of fifteen (“Early and Forced Marriage – Facts, Figures, and What You Can Do”). While these rates are decreasing, the progress is very slow, and it is predicted that another 100 million girls will be married as children over the course of the next decade. Girls married young are not only deprived of

“When Girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” First Lady Michelle Obama stated that in one of her exceptional speeches on education rights in her ‘Let Girls Learn’ campaign. In such a world where modernization has come so far, it seems ridiculous that preaching for a basic right, such as education for half of the world’s population is still an ongoing issue struggling to meet its goals. The world strives to move forward in full motion but fails to acknowledge that we will never reach the full potential of success unless all lives are given an opportunity for education. Two-thirds of the 774 million illiterate people in the world are women (EFA GMR, 2013). Slow education progress for children today will have

“GIRLS NOT BRIDES IS A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP OF MORE THAN 600 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS COMMITTED TO ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE AND ENABLING GIRLS TO FULFIL THEIR POTENTIAL.” (brides, 2016)This NGO is trying to help prevent children from having to marry. A child bride is defined as a girl who is married or in a union before the age of 18 years. One of the countries with the highest rates of child brides is Niger at 78 percent of females reporting by population being married before the age of 18 years. India has he highest number of child brides at 10,063,000 girls married before the age of 18 years.

For instance, if schools are available, daughters can rely on education--not acquired husbands--to support themselves, thereby decreasing the frequency of child brides. Also, if girls are encouraged to learn, they will be exposed to information about contraceptives--effectively delaying pregnancy until reaching maturity and financial stability. Among married Egyptians, those lacking education married at 18 on average, and bore their firstborn by 20; those with a secondary or higher education wedded at an older average age of 23, and had their first child at 25 (Roudi-Fahimi & Moghadam, 2003). Not only will a smaller, wealthier population ease burdened economies, but health costs also drop with the rise in female instruction. Children born to literate mothers are 50% more likely to survive past five than children with illiterate mothers (2011). Besides reducing child mortality, cases of HIV decline if women attend school. A study in Uganda revealed that every year of education reduces girls’ chances of HIV by 6.7%; knowledge about how the disease is transmitted forewarns females about potential dangers before becoming infected (2011). Just imagine the thousands of graves, tombstones carved with “loving daughter”, and “caring mother”, that won’t exist because women were presented information to avoid contracting HIV. Even disregarding all the spared innocents, there are massive economic benefits of teaching females--such as the increase in women’s earning potential and job opportunities. Only a year of primary school elevates women's wages by 10-20%, secondary education results in a 15-25% gain (2011). In turn, with more mothers, sisters, and daughters working above slave pay--alongside men rather than beneath them-- both the economy, and the family, grow more prosperous.

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.

The economic failure in Nigeria has brought about child abuse and neglect coupled with prostitution and child trafficking.

In these countries men pay a dowry to their wife's families, so many poverty stricken families marry their daughters off immediately once they reach puberty to the highest bidder. Religious teachings and principles also pay a huge role in denying young women education. Often the majority of these countries are made up of rural communities where there may only be one school house for all grades in the entire village. Many parents will not allow their daughter to attend the school if the teacher is a male, though sons are allowed to attend regardless of the sex of the teacher. Most poor, rural schools also do not have separate bathrooms and sanitation facilities for girls to use, so after puberty the majority of female students are forced to drop out. A reporter from UNICEF’s story on gender education and equality in Southern Sudan demonstrates this perfectly, “At the primary school here, there are 320 girls in grade 1 but just seven in grade 8. One girl uses a crutch to walk, and I ask a fieldworker about the challenges facing disabled children. He points out that if the girl hadn’t been disabled, most likely from polio, she would probably be married already and would never have had the chance to go to school” (UNICEF). Another tool used against women is fear. Muslim extremist groups like the Taliban are adamantly opposed to

Throughout the world, there are children who are consistently fighting for an education. There are numerous cultures which prohibit girls, especially, from obtaining and education. These cultures have various norms and reasons which prevent individuals from attaining an education. This is an enormous issue because education is the pathway for the development of the nation. Education is necessary for the economic prosperity of a country. As the countries literacy rates rise, so does their economic affluence per various research studies. Since children are the next generation, they need to informed to be able to better the society. Education allows people to have equal opportunities. If individuals have access to an education they would have a gate to a myriad of tools.

In many cases, young men are more likely to receive an education compared to young women, however poverty only deepens this gap. According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children Report,” 65 million girls are being deprived of education. More specifically, according to UNESCO, 17 million of these girls receive no education at all. Young girls living under poverty in developing countries typically are deprived of their education because their family and the country itself lacks the financial funds to support the girls throughout the school years. Without proper education, young girls are often neglected and are set to focus on domestic endeavors. Their primary job is to work within the family. This prevents women from getting jobs outside the domestic environment. Although some girls do

UNICEF (2016b) defines child marriage as ‘a formal marriage or informal union before age 18’ and places the number of girls getting married before the age of 18 at 15 million every year. These rates are found to be highest in sub-Saharan Africa and to be especially prevalent amongst the poorest of the population with 4 in 10 girls marrying before their 18th birthday (UNICEF, 2017). Among the top 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage in the world, 17 of those are sub-Saharan African countries (Girls Not Brides, 2014a).

Marriage of girls <18 years of age is a human rights violation, it affects millions and has become a norm worldwide in spite of national and international laws and agreement. This act prevents girls from experiencing optimal health enjoyment, bonding with others their own age, maturing, restriction from having the choice to choose their desired life partners and ultimately prevents girls from obtaining an education. Poverty is the main factor that leads to child marriages and there are many health defects which arise and affect the girls’ health such as malaria, an increase in the risk of cervical cancer, death during childbirth, the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases is increased and also obstetric

“Like a rat getting married to an elephant,” said an old man, describing what he sees daily in India, where child marriages are common. United Nations Children 's Fund (UNICEF) defines a child marriage as a “formal marriage or an informal union before age 18.” Child marriages are a reality for both sexes, although girls have an unreasonably higher rate. It is a widespread issue that commonly leads to a life stripped of advantages and aspirations. In today’s world, more than 700 million women were married as children (UNICEF). Nations, such as India, Chad, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Mexico have a common distinction from countries who ban child marriages: they are either economically unstable, do not provide sex education, or support a