Children

Afghanistan has yet to find a strategy to cope with the growing practice of “loan brides,” young girls traded into marriage as a result of the opium trade. While traffickers get rich by loaning money to impoverished poppy farmers, the families are often are unable to pay the debt. Families are thus forced to give their daughters over as a form of repayment for the debt they have incurred. The instability of poppy farmers is ever growing as efforts to eradicate Afghanistan of the opium trade push on, however one battle over good has now only lead to another battle for the countries mainly poor and illiterate rural poor. It is estimated that some half a million families in the country survive off of poppy farming, and as efforts to introduce other crops continue to fail.

The opium brides of Afghanistan not only leave families shammed and torn apart, but blight the nation with the lasting scars of a generation of lost girls. Girls as young as infants have been know to be promised in marriage over debts, others are teenagers who where looking hopefully towards the future until they where ripped away by the drug trades increasing hold on the countries struggling families. Families such as Shah who has now given his 9 year old daughter Khalida in exchange for a debt off some $2,000 which he was unable to repay after a government crop-eradication team destroyed the families two and a half acre poppy field. ” Now the family can only wait for the 45-year-old drug runner to come back for his prize. Khalida wanted to be a teacher someday, but that has become impossible. “It’s my fate,” the child says.”

In Afghanistan reports from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UNICEF, claim as many as 60-80% of marriges in the country are forced and 57% of marriages involve girls under the age of 16, which is the legal age for marriage in the country. The Afghan government put a new 15-page formal marriage contract, the ‘Nikah Nama’, in to place this past March. “The new marriage contract is a strong legal instrument that will end child marriages and will empower women’s legal status after marriage,” said Nibila Wafiq, a women’s rights programme officer for German NGO Medica Mondiale (IRIN).

Child marriages are not just a social and gender problem, but also a health problem as they lead to higher instances of domestic violence and early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights. Please see my other posts on Child Marriage

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Early marriage hampering country’s development, says report by Save the Children Sweden in cooperation with Gender-Development Research and Studies Center at Sanaa University, The report entitled Gender Based Sexual Violence Against Teenage Girls in the Middle East, illustrates how Yemeni girls are deprived of their child rights when they are prepared for motherhood at an early age.

“It should not be allowed because it deprives a girl of enjoying her childhood.”, stated one Yemeni girl in the report.

“Such a role creates an apprehension among girls and their families that marrying is the primary goal for girls,” said the report’s research leader, Pernilla Ouis. In Yemen, conservative social values and poverty force girls to marry and become young mothers before the age of 18, said Ouis.

While the bruises of the body fade in time, the scars of child abuse never fade. Children are never the same again after an abuser has entered their lives, they loose not only the innocence of childhood, but also the chance at a normal future. One cannot erase the memories of abuse, they live in conscious and the subconscious, invading every aspect of ones life. Child abuse victims are given a life sentence, forced to live in the shadows of their abusers.

The annual UNICEF Photo of the Year Contest once again in 2007 left millions speechless, inspired, shocked, and enticed into action.

This years winning image looks harmless at first, a man and a young girl sitting side by side, that is until you realize this is not a photo of a father and daughter, but an engagement photograph. The by photographer Stephanie Sinclair, is of a 40-year-old groom sitting beside his 11-year-old future bride, taken last year in Afghanistan. The legal age to wed for a girl in Afghanistan is 16, however child marriages are still common in many areas. Sinclare, asked the child bride what show she felt, she responded, “Nothing, I do not know this man. What am I supposed to feel?”. According to UNICEF some 60 million children are forced to enter into marriages before they are of legal age, half of which are in South Asia. The problem of child brides is the greatest in Rajasthan, India, where 15% of girls are under 10 years old when they married. Child marriages lead to higher instances of domestic violence and early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights.

The second place photograph was of a a 12 year-old boy working in a Bangladeshi brickyard, taken by photographer GMB Akash, of Bangladesh. UNICEF estimates that 4.7 million children between five and 14 years of age are involved in child labor in Bangladesh alone, and some 246 million children aged 5-17 worldwide are involved in full-time labor. Children involved in child labor have little to no access to an education, and therefore their escape from the factories, fields, etc becomes very limited, in addition many children are malnourished and ripe for additional exploitation.

The third-place photograph by German photographer Hartmut Schwarzbach, shows a 9 year old girl jumping in on a junked chair in the middle of a landfill outside of Manila, the day happens to be the young girls birthday. The girl is one of the children who live in the nearby charcoal burners’ camp with her family, and like the other children she spends her days in search of wood among the rubbish in th dump. The children in camps such as this are malnourished and lack education, leaving them to continue in the cycle of poverty, with little chance of escape from dumps that consume their days.

Eight other photos where chosen to receive honorable mention by the contest judges, each one is as powerful as the next…do I put photos in or link with a see here? My personal favorite of the eight is ‘Chechnya’s Forgotten Children’ by photographer Musa Sadulayew. The photo captures the double edged sword or the war and recovery, the struggle for a normal life for the children of war, and the undeniable scars that war imprints on society.

Adjaratou, pictured above, was around 12 when her parents forced her to marry her maternal cousin, where she suffered countless abuses. When she refused her husband’s demands to do such things as cover her head, she was beaten, and therefore suffered two miscarriages (Too Young to Wed).

Adjaratou, is just one of the millions of girls and women in the western African nation of Mali, who was forced to marry as a child. Child marriage brings with it many associated children’s rights abuses and health issues, such as Female Genital Mutilation (which in Mali is as high as 90%), early childbirth (one in ten give birth by the age of 15), an increased risk for HIV/AIDS, poor to no education, and sexual and physical abuse. Child marriages also result in larger age differentials, as according to the Population Council the average age difference in Mali is 12.7 years, and 15.1 years for polygamous marriages.

“Child marriage has far-reaching health, social, economic, and political implications for the girl and her community. It truncates a girl’s childhood, creates grave physical and psychological health risks, and robs her of internationally recognized human rights.”(Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa -Dr. Nawal M. Nour)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has no specific article on child marriage, however through it’s articles and outline, it does list numerous protective measures against child marriage. The convention lists a child as one under 18, and thus age is a clear violation of the convention, however some provisions allow this age to be lower, that said even lower legal ages are broken. Many Articles of the convention are clearly broken with the case of child marriage. Such as Article’s include The right to life, health, education, the right to be protected from harmful practices, the right to freedom from abuse and exploitation, and the right to participation.

In Mali the legal age for marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys, however Mali remains to have one of the most extreme number of cases of child marriage in the world. A girl may be allowed to legal marry from the age of 15, with her parents consent, however as in the case of Adjaratou, the child’s consent is more often than not given. According to the Mali Demographic and Health Survey 2001, 25% of girls were married by age 15, and 65% (out of woman 20-24 surrveryed) were married by the time they reached the age of 18.

The unfortunate case of child brides in Mali, is that they are far from alone, as child marriage is one of the most neglected children’s rights abuses. According to estimates from UNICEF now estimates that 60 million children under the age of 18, mostly girls, are already married without their full understanding or consent. Therefore the Population Council estimates that if child marriage continues undisturbed, another 100 million children will be forced into early marriage over the next ten years according to the Population Council.

Why are more efforts to end child marriage not being put into place, one may ask? In Mali the government must step up it’s efforts to enforce the laws regarding age of consent, and see that consent is really given by the bride. One must also note that in Mali many efforts by International aid organizations are being focused into the fight against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.

“There hasn’t been a really concerted effort to address the issue [at the international level],” said Naana Otoo-Oyortey, a founding member of the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls, a network of mostly UK-based organizations who campaign against early marriage and violence against women. “It’s been a neglected issue.” (child marriage is a neglected problem)

The report Ending Child Marriage: A Guide for Global Policy Action, listed recommendations in the following areas; Enact, standardize and enforce national laws, Create an enabling environment for social change, Develop multi-sectoral program approaches and partnerships, Priority areas for policy and program development, and Strengthen research and data collection systems. These specific recommendations such as; “Strengthening the integration of child marriage prevention and support programs into other government sector initiatives, especially in the areas of health, education, HIV and employment”, increase access to health and education, “Combat all forms of violence against girls and women, especially sexual violence and abuse, through policies and programs focusing on prevention, treatment, counseling and legal protection”

In Mali and across the globe, child marriage remains heavily prevalent, and the international community must give the issue higher relevance on their agendas, in order to ensure that the rights of millions of girls are enforced and protected. Please see my earlier post on Child Marriage for further general information and reference links.

Links:
Child Marriage Fact Sheet - UNFPA
Child Marriage Fact Sheet - International Women’s Health Coalition
Population Council Child Marriage Briefing - Mail
Early Marriage: Child Spouses - UNICEF
Mali Statistics - UNCIEF

The ‘cycle of abuse’, we’ve all heard the phrase a million times, yet I often think we forget what it means. It does not only mean the cycle, or stages, in which abuses are carried out. A child who grows up in an abusive home, is sexually abused, is a victim of trafficking, a child soldier…unfortunately the list of grave injustices against children goes on and on, is never able to escape the cycle of abuse. Therefore a child of abuse is at an increased risk to become an abuser, victim of sexual assault, become socially isolated, turn to drugs and alcohol, and various other form of self destructive behavior or susceptible to varying forms of continued abuse. We, as an international community must work to ensure that all children have been given their right to protection, both to prevent such abuses, and to assist the abused in their recovery. Therefore substantial physical and psychological care must be given to victims.

No matter what you say, or what you do, it all leaves a mark on the children around you. A child who witnesses violence and war, is forever scared by what they see. A child who hears nothing but negative, cannot erase the voice that says, “you can’t”. But the child who witnesses peace and love, will carry that with them forever and continue to share hope for the future.

We cannot erase the mistakes of the past, but we can leave a bigger impression on a child with hope, than with despair.

The issue of child marriages is one the weighs heavy on the minds of many around the world. As the modern world continues to increase with globalisation, the issue is thrown into the spotlight. While those in the west are most often quick to say that all child marriages should be outlawed, many in rural and tribal settings disagree or our conflicted by the issue. Some feel that baning child marriages is in part ending a longstanding rite and practice, that will only further contribute to the dissolve their cultural ways.

Why are childhood marriages so common and desired? There are a multitude of reasons that societies continue to practice early marriage and feel the benefits out way any undesirable consequences. For example if a girl is married young her virginity is more likely to be guarantee, but the main reason is that with early marriage come increased economic and social benefits. A wedding in a rural community is a great source of joy and pride for a family, especially the family of the bride, for they can now see that their child is cared for and has a future. Marriage is also of social importance, as the family receives a great standing in the community, based on the family of the groom or bride. Economically the families of the bride additionally benefit with the increase in social status and having one less mouth to feed, and often benefit from a dowry. In rural agricultural societies once families are joined they often pull their resources together to increase their output and profitabilities.

Child marriages cover the globe, and are most common in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. However child marriages continue in other parts of the world, including South America and among the Roma of Europe.

Uness Nyambi, of Malawi, “said she was betrothed as a child so her parents could finance her brother’s choice of a bride. Now about 17, she has two children, the oldest nearly 5, and a husband who guesses he is 70. ‘Just because of these two children, I can not leave him,’ she said.” (Forced to Marry Before Puberty, African Girls Pay Lasting Price)

Photo by Venessa Vick for the New York Times

Although many countries have now set minimum legal ages for marriage, the laws are often ignored, or even unheard. In many countries the minimum legal age for marriage is 16-18, however it is widely ignored in the rural areas, where illiteracy remains high, and it is therefore increasingly difficult to end this archaic practice. For example the minimum legal age for marriage in Ethiopia is 18, however children as young as 8 are already being promised in marriage, and though the marriages may still not occur for a few years, girls remain under the legal age at the time of marriage. (Rural Ethiopia Ignores Law Against Child Brides). In India, Parliament passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1978, setting the minimum age for women to get married as 18 and 21 for men. Despite the law child marriages still continue, especially in populous northern states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, and many believe Child Marriage, is a Curse That Still Prevailing in India. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, states in Article 1, that a child is anyone under 18 years of age, and in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it states that persons must be at “full age” at the time of marriage, which must be entered into “freely” and with “full consent.” The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, requires minimum ages for marriage to be specified by states, and declares child marriages as illegal, under Article 16.

The facts remain that a girl who is married young is at a greater risk of abuse, regardless of ethnicity or religion. In extreme instances abuse can result in death, or honor killings, if a girl attempts to flee an abusive husband. In many countries the myth of using sex with a virgin to cure sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, remains widely common place. Girls who marry young, consequently give birth young, and therefore have an increased risk for complications or even death in childbirth. Child brides are also more likely to be voiceless in their marriage, regarding most, if not all major decisions. Child brides are also less likely to compete their education, maintain social circles, In the developing world it is estimated that 1/3 of girls are married as children.

A number of reports have been conducted in recent years, on the subject of child marriage, including the report Childhood Marriage and Domestic Abuse, which was conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). The report stated that, “child marriage persists because these countries lack the resources, and sometimes the political commitment, to enforce the laws”. In the report Early Marriage: A Harmful Traditional Practice, conducted by UNICEF in 2005, it was found that “little overall change in the average age at marriage for age cohorts born between 1950 and 1970 in most regions, as well as little change in the incidence of child marriage.” In 2001 UNICEF published Early Marriage: Child Spouses, stating: “Real progress will come from introducing and promoting initiatives to change attitudes towards the gender roles of girls and boys in general, and towards the practice of early marriage in particular. This means that societies must reexamine traditional gender roles.”

Child marriages violate the rights of the child in many ways, but the most concerning violation is a girls right to consent, and this right is continually violated through the life of the marriage for most girls. How do we end this outdated practice, that continues to violate the rights of girls across the globe? The causes and implications of child marriage, are complex and interconnected, thus their is no simple solution in eradicating child marriage. In order to end child marriage for good we must look at all the source reasons that people continue to practice child marriage; poverty, marginalization of girls, illiteracy, lack of education, poor health. To find an end to child marriage, States and the International Community, must ensure that families are educated about the true effects of child marriage, and see that sustainable solutions are put in place. Making education available for girls, seeing families have alternatives to paying debts, eliminating poverty, providing health education on HIV/AIDS and other diseases, are all needed to end the suffering of girls across the globe, and put child marriage in the past, where it belongs.

Links:
UNICEF Child Marriage Statistics
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
The African Charter on the Rights Welfare of the Child
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
State of the World Population 2005 - Child Marriage Fact Sheet
Population Council Works to Eliminate Child Marriage
Stop Child Marriage
UNICEF

Related Articles:
Roma rivalry over child bride ban
AFGHANISTAN: New contract to curb child marriages
India Tackles Child Marriage
Child marriages, trafficking on the rise in West Bengal
Marriage is Not Child’s Play
Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa
NEPAL: Child marriage still common in rural southwest