Daily Times

The abhorrent practice of child marriage continues to thrive despite the prohibition on marriage by almost all countries before the age of 18. Around the world, 10 million girls a year are married off while they are still children. With a rising population, this will increase to 14 million per year over the next decade, according to recent figures from the UN. The grim reality of child marriage is that girls are barred from education and forced to take on the duties of being a wife, including bearing children, before their bodies and minds are ready. This is a childhood lost, forever replaced by a lifetime of cruelty and maltreatment. One in nine of the child marriages that take place around the world are of girls who are 15 or under. In many countries, girls face mental and sexual abuse, disownment by their families, denial of further education and ostracism from their communities.

Child marriage is both the cause and consequence of grinding poverty, cultures that sexualise young girls or offer religious dispensation and the inescapable inequality that girls experience every day. In parts of India, child marriage is a tradition where the family recognises that it will benefit economically from dowries and things of that kind, and also having one less mouth to feed. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a man marrying an adolescent can ‘feel younger’ and is considered by other men as a ‘lucky’ man. This is accompanied by the fact that he is usually the financial provider in the marriage so he has more decision-making power and can have more control over his spouse. Within the Islamic world, girls as young as nine-years-old are deemed eligible to be married “if the signs of puberty are visible”. In some countries in Africa, the breakdown in law and order has heightened concerns of girls being raped so child marriage is supposed to offer protection. It is economical too. The new family that the girl is married into has an extra pair of hands for work.

Whatever the motivation, child marriage is a very debilitating practice and often the end for many girls. The girl child is not physically, let alone emotionally, ready to bear a child. The statistics are that girls who give birth when they are under 15 are five times more likely to die giving birth than girls who are 19 and over. And their children are 60 times more likely to die before their first birthday. These young girls are five times more likely to die in childbirth than pregnant women in their 20s and many more of those who are ‘lucky’ enough to survive develop lifelong injuries and conditions. Some do not even make it that far. There have been cases of girls dying just days after marriage from injuries caused by marital rape or suicide.

So, what is next for child marriages? The complex mix of cultural and economic factors means there is not a single, simple solution and overcoming deeply held social beliefs and traditions will not be easy. For example, a recent move to ban child marriages in Pakistan met staunch resistance from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which branded the bill “blasphemous” and “anti-Islamic” resulting in its withdrawal from consideration in parliament. In several countries, while the new law and penal code mandate a minimum age of 18 for marriage, girls as young as 16 can still marry with parental consent. Civil society leaders are pushing for the removal of this loophole, arguing that “parental consent” is too often easily obtained when poor families have too many daughters to feed.

It should be recognised that educated and empowered girls can serve as inspirational leaders of social change. Governments must invest in girls and give them the chance to be educated so that as women they can create a better society for everyone. New government and private initiatives are required to prevent child marriages and promote the education of girls, including mandatory reporting of the minimum legal age for marriage and the rate of child marriage. Local, on the ground education campaigns are key to disseminating information about laws against child marriage and building broad-based support for girls’ rights, especially in rural areas often impenetrable by communications. Generally, societies have to make it more attractive for girls to stay in school and have a choice about their lives and futures than not to do so.

The ultimate goal for all countries should be to criminalise child marriage. Countries should impose harsher penalties on those entering marriage with a minor. Governments must show that they do not accept the actions of those who would suppress, abuse and physically attack girls who only want to be able to learn and make their own way in the world. All children have the right to be safeguarded against violence, exploitation and abuse. The campaign against child marriage is only one example of children around the world speaking out against continuing violations against their human rights.

The writer can be reached at shgcci@gmail.com