Child Marriage Is A Violation Of Human Rights

Stolen childhood is a side effect of early marriage. In poor and undeveloped countries is common to see weddings between adolescent and even children. Often the parents choose and their childhood is interrupted from their rights. As a married person the child has to perform activities that they are not psychologically or physically prepared. This happens to boys but girls suffer the most. Some child brides are as young as 8 to 9 years old, sometimes they marry much older men. The poverty makes the young brides to leave the school and start

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

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.

Walker, Judith-Ann. "Early marriage in Africa–Trends, harmful effects and interventions." African journal of reproductive health 16.2 (2012):

Child labor a common thing in the 20th century, kids working… whats next kids voting,drinking,driving and other adult like responcibilitys or privileges. Child labor the employment of children in any working position such as fast food chains, grocery stores, and many more jobs. Child labor is anything that interferes with schooling, mentally, physically, socially, or harmful to the child employe. Child labor can not be justified due to the harm it can cause to children aka americas feature.

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

Discrimination towards woman in nowadays life is like a cancer. It is attacking without us knowing and realizing about it. One of it is a child marriage. Child marriage is a serious human rights violation affecting children’s and women’s rights to health, education, equality, non-discrimination and to live free from violence and exploitation

Child marriage is one of the major concerns when it comes to women in undeveloped countries. Many of them are married off at a very young age. Education gives a woman the power to make their own decisions and gives them an identity. By marrying of at a young age many are forced to start a family and live under someone else’s authority. Lack of education limits freedom and the basic knowledge of living which now

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).

In villages across Malawi, children as young as eight are initiated on the rite of passage in which they are instructed to have sex. These initiations take place when a parent sends an adult man into the child’s bed or the child is forced to go to a camp away from their home. The children are often told that if they do not have sex during the initiation, “their skin will become dry and brittle. This will mark them for life, and they will be ostracized if they don't complete the custom. (Ahmed)” Many times the young girls become pregnant as they are instructed to not use protection while they are “clearing out the dust of childhood. (Batha 2014)” If the girl should become pregnant, she is forced to marry, leaving one less mouth to feed for her family. Female genital mutilation is also practiced in Malawi for sanitary and religious

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.

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.

In many societies, marriage is a celebrated institution commemorating the union between two consenting adults and the beginning of their lives together. However, this experience and celebration is different for the millions of girls around the world who are forced to wed while still children, some not even yet teenagers.

Girls who marry earlier tend to have poorer health and higher in risk of transmitting disease and HIV/AIDS. Very recently, the situation of children in need of special protection, notably girls vulnerable to sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS, suggests that early marriage is being used as a strategy to protect girls from sexual exposure (Innocenti Digest, 2001). Most decision for young girl to marry is as their parents believe they are protecting their daughter from HIV/AIDS. Other than that, some men fear of HIV infection have encourage them to seek young virgin, therefore uninfected partners. However, marriage does not offer any protection instead increase married girls’ exposure to virus as older husband may already be infected by previous sexual relationship. According to Rao Gupta and Geeta (1998), more than half of new HIV infections occur in 15-24 year olds, but girls become infected at twice the rate of boys. Other than risk on getting HIV/AIDS, other infection may arise due to early marriage. The risk of early pregnancy and child birth are well documented: increased risk of dying, increased risk of premature labor, complications during delivery, low birth-weight, and a higher chance that the newborn will not survive (Senderowitz & Judith, 1995).