Early Marriages : The Consequences Of Child Marriage

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

Although family function and formation has frequently shifted throughout history, one recent and clear trend has been a delay of family formation and marriage by young adults (Furstenberg 2010:68-69; Rauer et al. 2012:2168). While it appears that young adults are no longer as committed to marriage and family formation, a closer inspection reveals that this delay appears to be exactly that, and not reflective of a reduced capacity for family life (Rauer et al. 2013:2168). This delay has been found to be related to education, where higher education levels correspond to longer delays for both marriage (Furstenberg 2010:70-77) and family formation (Blossfeld & Huinink 1991:160; Blossfeld & Jaenichen 1992:314). After an analysis on which elements of education appear to be most influential on the delay of marriage and family formation, it is argued that the process of being a student itself has the biggest impact. This is found to be related to time constraints and societal expectations. The relationship between education and delayed marriage and family formation is investigated in varying societies, where mediating factors – such as gender roles and ethnicity, are found to be involved. While these mediating factors are often not strong enough to overwhelm effects of education, a different interaction in Japan is noted, where higher education was found to reduce, rather than delay, marriage and family formation.

xxxv. Husbands and fathers provided economic support and protection and represented the families to the outside world

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.

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.

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

Though it is looked down upon by society, underage girls are constantly being forced into marriages. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that two-fifths of all African girls are married before the age of 18. In these areas of poverty, the people are also extremely uneducated about sex and contraception, and young women are getting pregnant at younger and younger ages. Africa has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, yet their knowledge and use of contraception is extremely low. In some cases, this is due to the extremist religions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Like some religious groups in America, these people believe that contraception is a form of blasphemy. Because of social pressures like these, more than two thirds of women are not currently using modern contraception. And when these women become pregnant, there is a one in thirty-one chance that they will have complications with the pregnancy and die. This cycle of underage marriage, pregnancy, and death is one that Africa is working hard to break. Women throughout the continent are taking charge of public health campaigns at local and national

Facing this problem is not easy at all. We have to make families aware about the importance of girl child for the balance of society.

The most vital reason for improving women’s rights is the perpetuate violations of women’s rights in some regions. Certainly, women’s positions in society have been enhanced a lot since the public has attached importance to female and their rights. According to Wadesango, Rembe and Chabaya (2011), members of Southern African Development Community (SADC) have taken measures to prohibit traditional practices which are harmful to women. However, “lack of capacity, resources and commitment among the implementers” make these legislations be pale in protecting female (Wadesango et al, 2011, p.121). Therefore, detrimental cultural practices include female genital mutilation, marriage by abduction, child marriages and virginity testing still bring women physical and mental injuries in

Girls are valued property in the sub-Saharan Africa areas and fathers will often sell their daughters into cruel, abusive marriages. As a result, the girls will then be driven to drop out of school and assume their “wife duties”. The lack of education offered to them will significantly impact their knowledge of the countless complications that may come with childbirth. Considering this, maternal death is an imposing risk for these young girls, and most of the time, they will not have access to basic health care to ensure a healthy

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).