Child Marriages Essay

Early marriage is the marriage of children and adolescents below the age of 18.

Causes:

According to UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre, the "practice of marrying girls at a young age is most common in Sub–Saharan African and South Asia". There are specific parts of West Africa and East Africa and of South Asia where marriages before puberty are not unusual. However, the Centre also notes that marriage shortly after puberty is common among those living traditional lifestyles in the Middle East, North Africa and other parts of Asia. Marriages of female adolescents between sixteen and eighteen are common in parts of Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Some are forced into this union, others are simply too young to make an informed...show more content... Temporary marriages are possible via a short term marriage contact, known as Siqueh in Iran. Combined with a low legal age of marriage it is possible to circumvent the illegal act of child prostitution.

In Bangladesh, poverty–stricken parents are persuaded to part with their daughters through promises of marriage, or false marriages, which are used to lure the girls into prostitution abroad. Police in Cambodia say that hundreds, perhaps thousands of young women have been lured to Taiwan with promises of marriage to wealthy men, only to find themselves sold to a brothel owner.

Poverty is the primary reason for early marriage. In Bangladesh, for example, poverty–stricken parents who can no longer afford to take care of their daughters are persuaded to part with them through marriage, which is often a means of recruiting young girls into a life of prostitution abroad. In Iraq, where 28 percent of adolescents marry before the age of 18, a recent suvey revealed that poverty was the number one reason parents encouraged their children to marry early.

Out–of–wedlock pregnancies are yet another factor in the rush to marry early. In Niger, a recent survey found that 44 percent of 20 to 24 year–old women in were married before they reached the age of 15 because their fathers were concerned about the potential of pregnancies outside of marriage.

Effects:

For both boys and girls, early marriage has devastating physical,

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Child Marriage

Present time, child marriage is a curse in the global society. Child marriage is a violation of human rights. In most cases young girls get married off to significantly older men when they are still children. Child marriages must be viewed within a context of force and coercion, involving pressure and emotional blackmail, and children that lack the choice or capacity to give their full consent. Child marriage must therefore always be considered forced marriage because valid consent is absent – and often considered unnecessary. Child marriage is common practice in India, Niger, Bangladesh, Pakistan Guinea, Burkina Faso, Africa and Nepal, where mostly girls are married below the age of 18.

Consequences of child marriage

Child marriage has...show more content...

Human Rights Violation

Child marriage is a violation of human rights and is prohibited by a number of international conventions and other instruments. Nonetheless, it is estimated that in the next ten years more than 100 million girls are likely to be married before the age of 18. There are universal rules for the marriage and rules against the childe marriage. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that men and women of full age are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending parties.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women (1979) states that the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, should be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory. In their general recommendations of 1994, the Committee considers that the minimum age for marriage should be 18 years for both men and women.

SOLUTION

We call on all governments to take all necessary action to end child marriage by: The full implementation of the above mentioned Human Rights Conventions. Adopting a clear and unambiguous position on child and forced marriages. Introducing laws to rise the legal age of marriage to 18 years as

Child marriage is a complex issue that has been taking place for decades across many countries, religions, and cultures. The UNCIEF defines child marriage as "the formal marriage or informal union before the age of 18" (UNICEF, 2016). From data released by UNICEF in 2016, it is stated that more than 1 in 3 – or some 250 million – girls were married before the age of 15 (UNICEF, 2016). Although childmarriage has been decreasing in the past three decades, the number of child marriage victims is still very high. Even though this is a worldwide issue, we see that this is most prevalent in developing nations, including many South Asian countries such asSri Lanka. This can be heavily tied to many avenues of intersectionality. In the book...show more content...

This can be backed up by the cultural and religious practices that take place. There is also a belief that a child's life is more secure and safe after marriage. Based on the information and data collected on child marriage trends in Sri Lanka, this literature review briefly outlines the many subsections of intersectionality and how that has shaped the current and future of child marriage in Sri Lanka. One of the biggest aspects of intersectionality that plays a big role in child marriage is gender. From a report released by the UNICEF in 2014, it is claimed that both boys and girls are victims of child marriage. However, girls are more disproportionately affected (UNICEF, 2016). There can be many reasons leading to gender being significant in this case. One of those many reasons could be the role of women in Sri Lanka, which is also common amongst many other South Asian countries. Majority of the women in Sri Lanka are expected to hold traditional roles. According to a research, The Changing Role of Women in Sri Lankan Society conducted by Malathi de Alwis, Sri Lankan women are "constructed as the reproducers, nurturers, and disseminators of 'tradition,' 'culture,' 'community,' and 'nation'" (De Alwis, 2002). Hence, giving a girl in marriage at an earlier age means that the family is preparing her for the role as a homemaker and a caregiver to her husband. This expectation coincides more with the traditional role of a woman, rather than women

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Child Marriage

Committee: UNICEF

Topic: Child Marriage

Country: Netherlands

School: Rato Bangala School

Child Marriage is a prevailing problem all over the world. Ranging from Asia to Africa, it is still prevailing in our society; mainly because of reasons such as poverty, lack of education and traditions. Childmarriage can take place between an older partner and a child, which in most of the cases, is an older man and a young girl. It also takes place between young children themselves; it is likely that the girls are much more affected by the marriage due to early pregnancy and lack of health facilities. This social disorder possesses not only a great threat to the health of the women and girls who are married at an extremely young age, but also breaches their freedom, their freedom to get education, make decisions for themselves and most importantly their freedom to live their lives as they wish. Netherlands for an instance is an unmitigated supporter of the rights of individuals, which believes that when someone is forced into marriage at a young age with or without their consent, it is a violation of that person's rights. However, it is understood that child marriage is an extremely sensitive issue because it of its traditional value to many cultures. Netherlands believes that the main and only reason behind child marriage is because of reprobate traditions in some parts of the world. But Netherlands, unlike other countries does not face problems regarding child marriage

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