The Girl Child Marriage Act Of 2003

In this short video and article on the topic of gendercide, reporter Elizabeth Vargas travels to India to found out from the people of India personally why there is such a shortage of females. She discovered that although aborting a fetus of a female child is illegal because of the shortage of females, families still continue to abort them because they don't want the burden that the baby girls brings. Vargas also discovered that illegal sex determination clinics can be found just about on every street. Men and their families also the wives to have sex determination tests and abort the baby if it’s female.

In recent decades, there has been a shift in the definition of a family to better suit the new emerging alternative family arrangements in today’s society. A family is defined as the natural and fundamental group unit of society especially in relation to the upbringing of children. However, this Eurocentric, nuclear family construct has evolved as alternative family arrangements such as de-facto and same sex relationships as well as adoptive families have become part of the term ‘family’. The domestic legal system has introduced and amended laws to deal with these contemporary issues. Similarly, there are non-legal responses such as the media and various non-governmental organisations, which advocate for various changes to the law in order to achieve greater justice for these families.

In the tribal villages of eastern Africa the Maasai marriages are arranged by the elders without ever first consulting the bride or the mother of the bride to be. Unlike, that of my own culture in the United States of America, where I am free as a citizen to choose whomever I may choose to marry and when and if I may marry. Polygyny is that of which is practiced in the Maasai culture, as an ideal that is achieved only by that of the elder men of the tribe. Unfortunately, as a result ofthemen being much older at the time of marriage, most women become widows, knowing that it is understood that they should never remarry again.

The Children Act 2004 has information about the different services that children and young people are entitled to. Local authorities and other bodies and requires that they work together in improving the well-being of children in the local area (Childrensrightswales.org.uk, 2015). This legislation came into place after the incident with involved Victoria Climbie who was abused by an older man. Her non-accidental injuries were reported to child protection authorizes, however an investigation was not fully carried out. There were many occasions that show the failings of the system, different people let her down. As a result of this case, The Children Act 2004 came about. The GPs had a responsibility to keep in contact with the social services

As adults, we often think we know what’s best for children and youth. In certain circumstances, this holds true but not all the time. In the case of gender, parents more often than not have strong opinions, especially when it comes to the safety of girls. By looking at gender through the socio-cultural lens, it permits us to view young people in a contextual way that creates moral panics and discourses.

The Bush administration, as well as others, hoped to close achievement gaps and bring all children up to a higher standard. In order to do this, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was enacted with the hope of an extreme education reform. It requires strict accountability and assessments for schools. This was done without proper funding and expectations that are difficult for schools and students to reach. This act caused many problems in schools rather than fixing the problems that already existed.

In defense of marriage by John Corny, President Bill Clinton and the government were able to approve the defense of marriage act (DOMA). DOMA is defined as the union of a man and a woman which it was what mostly of the people consider to be right. The main question is if people should continue this or change? The answer is that many activists have been trying to change that definition. This changes has already begun in many states of the country , and those who supported DOMA long time ago, are not able to support marriage today. There is one thing that has never become different, it is how people think a kid is best raised by a woman and a man. However, today marriage appears to be in a general agreement that is being complicated.

Before the Constitutional Convention in 1787, relations between the States were not ideal. To reduce tensions, the new Constitution contained a provision, the "Full Faith and Credit Clause," which granted each state authority over public Acts, records and judicial proceedings. In 1790, Congress acted to put the provision into effect by enacting the "Full Faith and Credit Statute." Revised most recently in 1948, it provides, in part, that properly authenticated shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within the United States. In 1996, to help defend one-man, one-woman marriage from efforts to redefine it, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed - and President Bill Clinton signed - the "Defense of Marriage Act." This

10 year old Kim and her 14 year old half-sister Jodie have been removed from their home to their maternal grandmother’s home as they have seen unsafe drug misuse behaviour by their mother and Kim’s father. Jodie’s father is separated from their mother. Both the children are happy about staying with their grandmother, however their grandmother does not feel well and spends her time in hospital. Therefore, the local authority has suggested that the children should be placed in adoption. The grandmother has two other children who have agreed to take care of the children if the grandmother is unable to do so.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama declared just prior to the 2008 General Election, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Fast forward seven and a half years later and the now President Obama has made good on this threat.

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.

Girls, young women, and mature mothers. Society has consistently given women strict guidelines, rules and principles on how to be an appropriate member of a man’s society. These rules are set at a young age and enforced thoroughly into adulthood. When not followed accordingly, women often times too many face reprimanding through means of verbal abuse, physical abuse, or social exile. In the midst of all these strict guidelines and social etiquette for girls, a social rebellion started among girls and women and gender roles were broken, however the social rebellion did not and does not affect all girls and women. For instance, in less socially developed places, young girls on the brink of womanhood are still strongly persuaded to be a man’s idea of a “woman”.

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.

The thesis attached hereto entitled USE OF CELL PHONE IN MODERN COURTSHIP AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY- ECHAGUE, prepared and submitted by MELODY Q. PINEDA, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION is hereby endorsed.