We have read in the International Center for Research on Women, an article by Sarah Degnan entitled 'It's time to end child marriage'. In it, the author estimates 25,000 girls who are forced to marry against their will every day, some are only eight years old, others are teenagers. This fact ends the dreams of the little ones and becomes a tragic situation.
“Instead of growing up to be women who can contribute to the general well-being of their families and communities, most minor girlfriends drop out of school”
Marriage of girls is more frequent in sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia. It is a situation that violates human rights and is the most widespread form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls. Among the negative consequences (and in addition to the consequent lack of freedom in making decisions that concern one's own life) are the reduction of opportunities to receive education and the inhibition of participation in community activities. However, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) the right to choose and freely accept marriage is collected. And in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it is stipulated that the marital commitment and marriage of a child will not have legal effects, so all the countries involved should take all kinds of measures to specify a minimum marriage age.
As part of a PLAN delegation, a few months ago nine teenagers from Sierra Leone, Malawi, Cambodia, Pakistan and Cameroon, presented the problem of forced marriage before the Commission on the Status of Women (held at the United Nations). Falmata is 17 years old and lives in Sierra Leone, she said "I represent all the girls in Sierra Leone and our right to decide when and with whom we want to marry. Child marriage should be punishable by jail"
And if it is important to reinforce the laws, it is even more important to educate the communities, since in some places early marriage is commonly accepted in Muslim and Hindu communities. And regardless of cultural or religious aspects, often families with few resources and under social pressure think that there are no other alternatives.
Consequences of early marriage:
Dropping out of education: married girls leave school
Health problems: early pregnancies, transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Ill-treatment: and many times girls who pretend to refuse to marry against the will of their parents, are punished or killed.
According to UNICEF data:
In countries such as Bangladesh, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger and the Central African Republic, more than 60% of women married or lived as a couple before they turned 18 (1987/2006)
Women living in 20% of the poorest households show a greater tendency to marry at an earlier age than those living in 20% of the most prosperous households.
Women who have a primary education are significantly less likely to marry or live as a couple than girls who have not received an education.
We can imagine that child marriage involves forced labor, slavery, prostitution and violence. And this despite the goal of the parents of those girls who have consented to financial needs or because they thought of providing guardianship to their daughters.
Undoubtedly, a better education of the communities would be necessary, together with decisive laws that are committed to the healthy development of girls and adolescents.
