Child marriage is a common practice around the world . In India it is banned , but they still happen.
This post is an attempt to throw a light on this issue.
Mostly girls are affected :
* More than 100 million girls in the developing world will be married during the next 10 years.
* Although the definition of child marriage includes boys, most children married under the age of 18 years are girls.
* While the practice has decreased globally over the last 30 years, it remains common in rural areas and among the poorest of the poor.
* In Southern Asia, 48%—nearly 10 million—of girls are married before the age of 18.
* In Africa, 42% of girls were married before turning 18.
* In Latin America and the Caribbean, 29% of girls are married by age 18.
Effects of child marriage :
Child brides are more likely than unmarried girls to die younger, suffer from health problems, live in poverty and remain illiterate.
* Premature Pregnancy: Child brides almost always bear children before they are physically - or emotionally - ready.
* Maternal Mortality: Girls younger than 15 are five times more likely to die during child birth or pregnancy than older women. Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide.
* Infant Mortality: Mortality rates for babies born to mothers under age 20 are almost 75% higher than for children born to older mothers. The children that survive are more likely to be premature, have a low birth weight, and are more at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS.
* Health Problems: Premature childbirth can lead to a variety of health problems for mothers, including fistula, a debilitating condition that causes chronic incontinence. Girls with fistula are often abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by society. There are approximately 2 million girls living with fistula, and 100,000 new cases every year.
* HIV/AIDS: Married girls may be more likely to contract sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS, than unmarried girls. Young girls are more physically susceptible to STD's, have less access to reproductive education and health services and are often powerless to demand the use of contraception.
* Illiteracy: Child brides are often pulled out of school and denied further education. Their children are also more likely to be illiterate.
* Poverty: Child brides - already poor - are isolated and denied education and employment opportunities, making it difficult for them break out of the cycle of poverty.
* Abuse and Violence: Child brides are more likely to experience domestic abuse, and violence than their peers who marry later.
* Mental Health: Violence and abuse can lead to post-traumatic stress and depression.
* Isolation and Abandonment: Child brides are often isolated from their peers and abandoned if they develop health problems like fistula.
You can find some photos of child brides taken by Reuters’ photographers below:
Fourteen-year-old child bride Lalita Saini (R) attends an interview with Reuters at Alsisar village, about 200 km (124 miles) north from Jaipur, India, April 25, 2007.
Amlee, a five-year old bride unties string knots of her husband, Ashok, 15, during their marriage ritual in Indian desert village Srirampur of the northwestern state of Rajasthan on May 14, 1994.
Mamta, 9, rides pillion with her groom Ram Singh, 14, after their wedding in Biaora, in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state April 22, 2009.
Seven-year-old groom Mohammad Waseem (R) sits with his four-year-old bride Nisha (L) and his father Mohammad Ismil in a police station in Karachi October 31, 2008.
Newly-wed Krishna, 11, lifts her veil during her wedding ceremony with 13-year-old Kishan Gopal in a village near Kota in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan, May 16, 2010.
Nine-year-old Nujood al-Ahdal, whose marriage was terminated by a court last week, attends a news conference with her lawyer Shatha Nasser in Sanaa, Yemen, April 21, 2008.
Hemant (R), 16, sits with his 13-year-old newly wed wife Saraswati in a mass marriage outside his village near Kota in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, May 17, 2010.
Prevention of child marriage :
Education
* Girls with a secondary education are up to six times less likely to marry young compared to girls with little or no education.
* Education delays the age at which a woman marries.
* Education provides an alternative opportunity for girls other than marriage.
* Education increases socio-economic status and earning potential for girls.
Employment/Poverty Reduction
The world's poorest countries have the highest rates of child marriage. Families often marry girls off to lessen their economic burden and provide a future for their daughters.
* Girls from poor families are about twice as likely to marry young than girls from better-off households.
* Girls who earn a wage may be seen as an economic asset, not a burden, by their families.
* Girls who earn a wage are less dependent on others to provide for them.
Child Marriage Around the World
Percentage of girls marrying before the age of 18
1 Niger 76.6
2 Chad 71.5
3 Bangladesh 68.7
4 Mali 65.4
5 Guinea 64.5
6 Central African Republic 57.0
7 Nepal 56.1
8 Mozambique 55.9
9 Uganda 54.1
10 Burkina Faso 51.9
11 India 50.0
12 Ethiopia 49.1
13 Liberia 48.4
13 Yemen 48.4
15 Cameroon 47.2
16 Eritrea 47.0
17 Malawi 46.9
18 Nicaragua 43.3
18 Nigeria 43.3
20 Zambia 42.1
Source: ICRW 2007
http://www.icrw.org/docs/2007-childmarriagepolicy.pdf
Child marriage In Rajasthan :
Child marriages are common in many parts of Rajasthan, especially on days of religious significance like Akha Teej and Dev Uthni Ekadashi.
In fact, child marriage continues to be a reality for about 50 per cent of the girls in the villages of Kota, Dungarpur, Jhalawar and Barmer, but the situation is particularly bad just two and a half hours from Jaipur in Ajmer, where a similar percentage of girls get married even before they turn ten.
Social activists believe child marriages go on uninterrupted because of a lack of political will.
"Politicians lack the will to check child marriages to guard their votes from various communities in which the practice is still followed," social activist Lalita Dave says.
key words:Child Marriage Effects , Early Marriage Effects , Young Marriage, Premature Marriage , Early Marriages Statistics , Sufficient Age , Women Early Marriage , Effects Of Young Marriages , Legal Age , Average Age
