Child Marriages Vs. United Nations Children 's Fund

"More than 200,000 children have been involved in a child marriage in the last fifteen years," says Chris Baynes, an author at The Independent. When the words "child marriage," are said, I used to think of a third world country. I think of someone that I thought of as "uncivilized" or as "inhumane," but many people, including me, would be shocked to know that child marriage happens right here in our "civilized" United States. On top of the fact that it generally happens here, it is completely legal in twenty-five states! The other twenty-five states have minimum ages but the loopholes that those laws have are astonishing. Many of the laws loopholes, according to Nurith Aizenman, the writer of "The Loopholes That Allow Child Marriage in the

Child marriage is the marriage, usually forced but may not be, between one party of under 18 and another over the age of 18. There are many reasons for child marriage which can range anywhere from social or religious pressure to safety, either economic or physical, for the girl and her family. As well as how many families find girls to be economic strains as the families need to provide a dowry for the girl. Young women tend to not be allowed to work as they are considered worthless and a burden, especially considering that sons carry the family name and are seen as a sign of fertility in most societies. This is an

More than 700 million young girls are forced into marriage (GirlsNotBrides: Child Marriage Around the World). In foreign countries such as Niger (76%), Chad (67%), Guinea (52%), and many more it is very common for a young woman to be forced into marriage (GirlsNotBrides: Child Marriage Around the World). Many of these young women are poorly educated and do not know the rights as a human being they possess. This is a practice that is ongoing, but isn’t impossible to be stopped.

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 practice is particularly entrenched among some Ugandan ethnic groups, especially in western, east and northern areas of the country. The negotiations over payment take place between male representatives of the two families, women are not allowed to take part. According to UN figures, an estimated 40% of girls in Uganda are married before they are 18, with eastern and northern Uganda registering the highest number of child marriages (Al Jazeera). A major reason for the high number is understood to be because parents, particularly poorer parents, want to get the bride price. Schiller says the new ruling breaks the chain that has trapped women in relationships they want to leave, empowering them to walk away if a marriage fails. “We have met women who say my father has already used those cows and my parents are poor. I am staying here to protect them,” says Schiller. Because they have commercialized this aspect, people now reach the extent of borrowing a vehicle and presenting it as bride price, and then telling the parents of the girl, you give it back, she says. This is the way to go; it is progressive; it is civilized and will many couples to be able to formalize their marriages.

According to Svanemyr J, “Child marriage, defined as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18, is a reality for both boys and girls; however girls are disproportionately the most affected. Globally nearly one in three girls are married before the age of 18, and one in seven is married before the age of 15. An estimated 10 million child marriages occur every” (1). Childhood marriages in Yemen have been factual for centuries,

As developing countries attempt to accommodate their rapidly growing youth population, it is important to start considering investments in adolescent girls. In these same developing countries, child marriages tend to be a very common practice. Both region and culture play a part. When considering the limited education or even the lack of economic opportunities in these places, child marriage can end up leading to a life of poverty, social isolation, and powerlessness, infringing on their human rights, health, and well-being. The effects that early marriage can have on children should be acknowledged. Research has shown that child marriage has a direct negative correlation when it comes to its impact on education, health, and psychological well-being of the girls who marry early. Currently, the issue of child marriage is prevalent in Mali. There have been programs implemented in similar rural countries as Mali, that have been successful in showing evidence to support the benefits of programs designed to delay child marriages. These outcomes included positive results for school attendance, age at marriage, reproductive health knowledge and communication and contraceptive use particularly among girls aged 10-14. Implementing these recommendations to the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children & Families in Mali can help to determine the feasibility of developing a similar intervention.

There is no denying that child marriage should be banned. Because evidence from scientific research has shown that “forced child marriage is likely one of the severest forms of child abuse and it is one of the most disturbing violations of human rights and child rights. The practice of forced child marriage constitutes sexual servitude, abuse, gender inequality, threat to livelihood, all sorts of mental anguish and emotional distress. The continuous cultural and/or religious practices is an inadequate justification of forced child marriage continues to perpetuate a profound double standard that devalue females, degrades them to the status of an animal or an inanimate object sold at the will of men. In developing countries, one in nine girls (between the ages of 10 and 14) or 15 million has been forced into marriage.” (Miller, 2015, p. 3902) Any form of child marriage can be seen as forced marriage because children does not have the capacity to consent to the marriage contract. And if a children can’t be responsibility for themselves why they will can make a

In American culture, marriages are optically discerned as very unpropitious. This is because we have grown up with the cognizance that when it comes time to espouse, we will have culled our spouse of our own free will. This way, the match will be a love match instead of being coerced into a marriage. Adolescent men and women grow up in India with a totally opposite view of marriage (Jain 7, 2017). It is taught, that when it comes time to marry, their parents will be the ones to find a suitable spouse. For over 1,000 years, Indian’s have perpetrated this tradition and have kept very rudimental credence’s and values when it comes to culling the spouse. As of 2016, over 90% of Indian marriages were arranged (Toledo 2017). Surprisingly, the divorce rate is lower in India than in the United States. Although arranged marriages are very prevalent in India, they are not always desired. Being coerced into a marriage can prove to be very stressful and awkward as shown by Nnaemka in the story “Marriage is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe.

In some parts of the world, children are viewed as a wonderful gift from God, yet in others they are seen as a useless burden. To obtain value in a third world country which has absolutely nothing is nearly impossible, especially for a child that is born into a family who sees her as a social and financial catastrophe simply because of her gender. Perhaps this is why in multiple countries; children, specifically girls, are sold off into marriage on an hourly basis. Child marriage has been happening for hundreds of years and can be branched into many forms, including consensual and, the more often used, nonconsensual. Unfortunately, child brides are a repercussion of the families and parents who allow them to be married off so young. In the cultures which a child bride is raised in, a family sees them as nothing except a chance to get some money, the societies these children grow up in view it as tradition making it impossible to try to escape the cycle, and they will never have the chance to escape because of lack of education.

Although there have been great strives to empower women in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s consideration of legislation that would permit child marriage would inevitably reverse the advancements that have been made towards women’s rights in the last few decades. Going in the opposite direction, the law would be conforming to the already prevalent culture of parents pushing their daughters into marriages at an early age. Merry would point out that different perspectives and understandings stem from framing of the issue. NGOs address child marriage by providing awareness and educating girl’s families, the government tries to impose legislation that would allow it, and local actors work towards reframing ideas while using culture as a catalyst for change – the last of which Merry would most likely side with.

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).

Child marriage is a violation of children’s human rights and often involves physical, emotional, financial, sexual or psychological pressure and abuse (Levesque 1999). Approximately 14 million children as young as 8 years of age fall victim to child marriages worldwide each year, robbing them of their childhood, education and future dreams (Quinell 2015). A study conducted by the ‘National Children’s and Youth Law Centre’ identified over 250 cases of child marriages in Australia over 24 months (Jelenic & Keeley 2013). The study confirmed that over 15 Australian children are being sent overseas each year for a forced

For the nation of Pakistan, approximately 21 percent of young girls are married before the age of 18, and many of these marriages are forced (“Girls Not Brides”). Although this number is lower than the regional average, the forced marriage problem in Pakistan is highly concentrated in poorer areas, endangering those who are socioeconomically at risk. Furthermore, Pakistan ranks as the sixth most populated country in the world, exemplifying the devastating amount of young girls at risk for forced child marriage. Note that both girls and boys are affected by child marriage, but girls represent the overwhelming majority of those sold into marriage (Ahmad, 2014).

The life of this girl is one tip of the iceberg of the consequences caused by child and early marriages. For individual girls, on one hand, child marriage is a violation of basic human rights. It puts the girls below 18-year-old in a vulnerable and disempowered position, preventing them from fundamental human rights to education, health, freedom and safety. On the other hand, child marriage exposes girls to infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, high incidence of maternal mortality and morbidity, low life expectancy, inter-generational cycle of violence and all forms of discrimination.