Speech: Human Rights Violations in India

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.

Article 19 states "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

One in four girls in India does not live past puberty due to gendercide, according to The Invisible Girl Project. India is one of the countries with the highest gendercide rates. Although many are aware of the violence against females, the majority does not act against it. Those who do act against it do not succeed because it is a problem incorporated in the roots of societal beliefs. Gendercide has been occurring for centuries in India and continues as a cycle of violence against females. Mass killing of females has been proven to only hurt society. The abortion and elimination of females because of cultural discrimination in India continues the cycle of gendercide.

Forced and arranged marriages are often confused, the main difference between them is that in arranged marriages the couple is allowed to decide, but in forced marriage, they do not have the option to choose at all. Most of the time we believe that this is an issue only affecting people in the Middle East, but that is so far away from reality. The reason I chose this subject is to make people aware that this is happening everywhere, consequently we need to find a way to stop it. I also found out that in America they are not strict laws against it, because it is not considered a threat against people. “In New York State the data shows that 3,853 children were married between 2000 and 2010.” This is alarming, considering that in most of the cases

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

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 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 marriage is a global problem that spans across countries, cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Today, 1 in every 3 girls worldwide is said to be married before the age of 18, which can lead to physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. In order to end the practice of child marriages, the international community must work hand in hand within the various societies to provide the policies and programs necessary to achieve this goal.

In the United States, 18 years old is the minimum age for marriage, however every state’s marriage law includes exceptions that allow minors to marry with parental or judicial concent, proof of pregnancy or childbirth (Landau, 2016). These exceptions are tremendously broad and are undefined. The parental exception provides an opportunity for parents to force their child to marry against their will and it is often overlooked (Landau, 2016). In recent years, the recognition of forced marriages in the US has increased and a national response is needed to protect and empower victims (Landau, 2016). Research has revealed that about 3,853 minors were married between 2000 and 2010 in New York and between 2000 and 2013 about 4, 500 minors had been married in Virginia

In recent years, reports of attacks and incarcerations against and of journalists and news broadcasters have risen exponentially. In 2013, 2160 journalists were threatened or physically attacked. Which brings up the question of whether or not the act of silencing a human being is humane. As stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Freedom of Expression is a right that everyone is born with. However, lately the people are being silence.

According to UNICEF 48% of women in South Asia are forced to marry before they turn 18. These teenage brides do not give their consent for their marriage their human rights are taking away from them and they are treated like an object. An arranged marriage is when the family of both children agree that they should be taking a lead role in marriage, but the couple have agreed to do so. A forced marriage is when families decide that their child should be married to someone for their own benefit for example money to help the rest of their family, the child in which is married off has giving to consent to her or his family or to the person whom they are about to spend the rest of their life

Reducing the numbers of child marriage will allow impoverished South Asian communities to thrive. Child marriages often lead to the spread of HIV, infections, and increased sexual and domestic violence in South Asian societies. Most importantly, child marriage disempowers women in underdeveloped countries and hinders further education. Child marriage often means that girls cease further education and are expected to take on new family responsibilities as a housewife. Avoiding child marriage will allow young boys and girls to become more educated, it will allow for more doctors and civilized workers that will help South Asian societies progress and thrive. Eradicating child marriage and replacing it with education will pull South Asian communities out of impoverishment.

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.

Every single human being on this planet has rights. These rights are given to us through birth, and the day I was asked, what my human rights were, I found myself speechless. I did not know how to answer the question, which at the time sounded so easy. I forgot about the question that had me so puzzled, and just brushed it off, ironically six month later I get an assignment on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After reading this historic document, I realized how important human rights are. I believe most people take human rights for granted, we know they exist, but we don’t even know what they are