Child Marriage Is A Global Issue

“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.

Every young girl asks for a new baby Annabel or a new bicycle on the run up to their 11th birthday, but girls all over the world just want the right to an education and a free life. In the developing world girls are getting married to older men from ages 30 up. This can end their chances of an education and puts them at a much greater risk of isolation and violence. For girls under the age of 15 the incidence of an early forced marriage is one in nine; The girls in these undeveloped countries can be married as young as 5 years old. It is time to stop these unforgivable marriages.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, child marriages, marriages where at least one of the parties is under the age of 18, began when mothers and families started to force their teenage daughters into marriage at an early age to prevent them from rape as well as to secure a safe economic future for their daughters (Child Marriage and the Law, 1). This issue is very prevalent in countries such as Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Niger, being the most prevalent country, is reported to have “every three in four girls married before their 18th birthday” (Where Does It Happen, Girls Not Brides). In addition to this heavy statistic, Girls Not Brides also reports that globally “more than 30% of today’s women were married before their 18th

Child marriages can have devastating consequences for girls.Child brides are more likely than unmarried girls to die younger,suffer from health problems, live in poverty,and being uneducated.Neither is physically or emotionally ready for gives birth, child bride faces a higher risk of death in childbirth and might suffer from many pregnancy-related injuries.Mortality rates for babies who born to mothers under 20 are higher than for children born to older mothers.The children that survived are more likely at risk to contracting HIV/AIDS, have a low birthweight, and more likely to develop disability.Child brides are often pulled out school and refuse to get them any further education.Their children are also more likely to be uneducated like their mothers. Child brides are poor and more likely to remain poor because they are isolated and denied them to get any

Most girls dream of their wedding from a very young age, from meticulously planning each detail to fantasizing about walking down the aisle. But, for many girls across the world, their wedding day is something to dread. In many cases, these girls are forced to marry men much older than themselves, sometimes even by three or four decades. The International Center for Research on Women defines child marriage as, “a formal marriage or informal union before age 18” (np), and although rarely mentioned, child marriage is a growing problem worldwide. The United Nations Populations Fund states, “In developing countries, one in every three girls is married before reaching age 18. One in nine is married under age 15” (unfpa.org). Young brides who are put in this terrible situation face tremendous mental and physical risks and often die from the abuse they receive from their husband. The following paper will highlight the oppression young brides face including first hand stories, female genital mutilation, and health consequences across the Middle East and Eastern Asia.

Kingston, many girls are forced into marriages by being told it is the right thing to do. In summary, underage arranged marriages are very dangerous and unfair to the children who are placed under those circumstances while they haven’t even reached the capacity to comprehend what they want.

Almost 60% of girls are married by 16. Women activists say up to 80 percent of marriages in poor rural areas are either forced or arranged.

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

Marbel Van Oranjes from Girls Not Bride stated that 40 millions girl are getting married before they are 18 years old. And this big problem need to be change as it is a truly global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. Child brides can be found in every region in the world, from the Middle East to Latin America, South Asia to Europe. As we can see

Due to political instability, it is difficult for non-government organizations to operate inside the borders of Yemen. Since there is such a small chance for civil society organizations, few are aware of the widespread problem of child marriages (Girls Not Brides, n.d.).

When one thinks of marriage, they think of two adults being in love and deciding to spend the rest of their lives together. To most, marriage is a choice, but according to the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), one third of the girls, under the age of eighteen, in the world marriage is not all they would have dreamt of. All around the world girls under the age of eighteen are getting married. Girls are getting married to strangers, to men drastically older than them and also unwillingly. This can be and is extremely dangerous. A person under the age of eighteen should not be allowed to marry simply because they are not mature nor developed enough to handle adult situations. These girls are having to be put in situations that they do not understand how to solve. Ending child marriage requires work across all sectors and at all

In addition, child marriage started to become more common as well. Often Muslim rulers and officials kidnapped Hindu girls. Due to the kidnapping of the Hindu girls, their parent had to practice child marriage. According to the history of India, “It was emphasized that the proper age for the marriage of girls was seven and that marriage after the age of eleven or twelve was sinful.

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.

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

Child marriage is a marriage that occurs between two people where one or two of the partners is under 18. While boys are also married under the age of 18, girls far outnumber boys in child marriages. It is usually forced and occurs often to girls who are ages 12 to16 years old[2]. The husband is also often several years older than his wife, sometimes even