NewAfricanWoman Issue 35 - Flipbook - Page 38
NAW Women’s Rights
Too Young
to Marry
One in three girls in the developing world marries before the age of 18; one in nine
marries before turning 15. Nisha Varia (below), writes on why serious attention should
be paid to ending the scourge of child marriage for good. And the time to act is now.
S
haron J’s marriage at the age
of 14 in Tanzania dashed her
hopes for the future: “My
dream was to study to be a
journalist. Until today, when
I watch news or listen to the radio and
someone is reading news, it causes me a
lot of pain because I wish it were me.”
Around the world, marriage is often
idealised as ushering in love, happiness,
and security. But for Sharon and other
girls, getting married is often one of the
worst things that can happen.
Human Rights Watch investigations
in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malawi,
Nepal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen,
and Zimbabwe have found that early
marriage has dire lifelong consequences
– often completely halting or crippling
a girl’s ability to realise a wide range of
human rights. Leaving school early both
contributes to, and results in, marrying
young. Other impacts include marital rape, heightened risk of domestic
violence, poor access to decent work,
exploitation doing unpaid labour, risk of
HIV transmission, and a range of health
problems due to early childbearing.
At present, unprecedented attention is being paid to child marriage
globally. Last November, thousands of
stakeholders gathered in the Zambian
capital Lusaka for the first African Girls’
Summit to call for legal reform and
share information about good practices
and challenges to ending child marriage
in Africa. Prominent voices in and out
of government, such as that of Joyce
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sustain attention: the UN Sustainable
Development Goals adopted in September 2015 include eliminating child marriage as a key target by 2030 for advancing gender equality.
Meeting this target requires a combination of approaches that have proved
difficult to achieve for other women’s
rights issues: a commitment of political
will and resources over many years; willingness to acknowledge adolescent girls’
sexuality and empower them with information and choices; and true coordination across various sectors, including
education, health, justice, and economic
development.
Banda, the former president of Malawi,
have publicly committed to fighting
child marriage. In April 2015, Malawi
adopted a new law setting the minimum age of marriage at 18; however,
it does not override the constitution,
which does not explicitly prohibit child
marriage under 15, and allows 15- to
18-year-olds to marry with parental
consent
International donors, UN agencies,
and civil society groups, including Girls
Not Brides, a coalition of more than 500
organisations worldwide, have also rallied behind the cause. The challenges are
formidable. Child marriage – fuelled by
poverty and deeply rooted norms that
undervalue and discriminate against
girls – will not disappear if the concerted attention it now enjoys subsides
in favour of the next hot-button issue.
A recent development may help
Tackling the roots of child marriage
“I faced a lot of problems in marriage.
I was young and did not know how to
be a wife. I was pregnant, had to look
after my husband, do housework, deal
with in-laws, and work on the farm. My
worst time was when I was pregnant; I
had to do all this and deal with a pregnancy while I was just a child myself,”
laments Elina V who was forced to get
married at 15, in Malawi.
The main causes of child marriage
vary across regions and communities
but often centre around control over
girls’ sexuality.
In some countries, such as Tanzania,
Human Rights Watch interviewed many
girls who said they felt forced to marry
after becoming pregnant.
A common thread is that most girls
– economically dependent, with little