Week of November 23rd - 27th CWI

Mon:

The process of child marriage

- the parents of a girl must pay a dowry to the future husband

Current laws middle east

- attempt to make age for girls 17

- blocked by traditional and religious leaders and the parliament's sharia committee

- Regulations are being drafted in Saudi Arabia

Current laws USA

- In all but one state 18

- Nebraska only one 19

- between 16-17 parents agreement

Countries with the highest Numbers of Child marriage

-India

- Bangladesh

- Nigeria

Why happening?

- Tradition

- Gender Roles

- Poverty

- Security 

- more than 30% of female population married before 18th birthday

- half of girls in India are child brides

- 90% of adolescence take place within marriage

- 39 000 child brides every day 

Problems with child marriage

- laws not clear

- reinforces gender inequality, violates human rights

- disempowered, dependent in their husbands 

Tue

- 5 categories

  - education

  -> child marriage often means the end of education for girls 

  -> can be on of the most powerful tools to enable girls to avoid early marriage 

  - Health 

  -> complications in pregnancy and childbirth 

  -> When a mother is under 20 the baby is more likely to die in it's forst weeks of life

  -> Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die during childbirth than women in their 20s

  -> Child brides often face intense social pressure to prove their fertility

  -> 22% of child brides un

  - Poverty

  -> poveryt is one of the main drivers of child marriage

  -> traps girls and their families in a cycle of poverty

  -> If a girl doesn't marry young she'll be healthier

  - Safety

  -> Girls who are married under 18 are more likely to experience domestic abuse -> no say

  -> affects mental health

  -> marriage makes girl be safer

  - Human Rights and Justice

  -> Marriage shall be only if both agree

  -> child marriage is a violation of Human rights

  -> In some cases Child marriage could be considered slavery

FGM

- Female genital mutilation 

- cutting, pricking, scraping, sewing, piercing

- unsanitary razor blades or knives are used 

- Over 140 million girls and women have gone under FGM 

- Social reasons

- culture and tradition

- ensure virginity

- girl has become woman

- girl's beauty

- Issues 

- serious injury

- extreme pain

- infection 

- non virgins ruined for marriage

What is being done about child marriage

- Crisis lines

- women's shelters

- Breakthrough Global, Forward UK, Girls UP USA, Save the children global, World vision

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

eXTReMe Tracker