Child Marriage

A video petition created by SGU with help of students from Einstein High School

Reactions from Filles Unies about CHILD MARRIAGE (Mariage Précoce) Testimonials

Filles Unies pour l’Education member Aiché tells School Girls Unite that she knew a girl in 7th grade from the town of Kita, named Nassa, who was 16. When Nassa went back home for spring vacation and never came back because her parents married her. She is the second wife.
Marguerite with Filles Unies knew Aicha who was 14 and in 6th grade at a school in Bamako. She had been married to one of her cousins but he had beaten her a lot so they divorced. At this time she has 2 children. She is now 18, living at her parents’ house.
Filles Unies member Didiatou says Fatima was 14 and in 6th grade when she got married to her uncle. She has one boy and she is very happy in her marriage and “well treated”. Now she is 16.

Filles Unies know about the law in Mali that a girl has to be age 18 to be married but they understand the power of tradition. They did not know how common child marriage is for girls in Mali: that 65.4% are married by the age of 18. Filles Unies is very eager to advocate and hope to find a coalition of organizations in Mali they can work with on child marriage. They watched the anti-child marriage video petition. They are very excited about it and the video definitely gives them ideas.

That sounds unpleasant, what is it?
Basically, it’s the marriage of children. In most cases, the “child bride” is a young girl married to a much older man. The median age gap is ten years, but can be as low as zero or as high as seventy. There are several traditions concerning child marriage; some girls are married very young, at eight or nine, and are not sent to live with her husband until she reaches puberty.

Are you kidding?
Sadly, no. It’s most prevalent in developing countries, especially Niger, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali and Guinea. These hotspots have greatest populations of child brides (females married before 18):

76.6% in Niger
71% in Chad
68.7% in Bangladesh
65.4% in Mali
64.5% in Guinea

In eleven of the twenty “hotspots” of child marriage, half (and more) of women under 18 are married.

Why is this happening?
Most parents of child brides feel they accomplish much by marrying off their daughter. They believe they are not only removing the need to feed an extra mouth, but they are also protecting their daughter by assuring her a home. What’s really heartbreaking is that some families think that marriage increases economic standing. There is little evidence to back this up; the countries which practice child marriage extensively are still suffering from the same economic stagnation they did decades ago.

This is crazy. What happens to child brides after marriage anyway?
Most become mothers in the months after marriage. But this is not a good thing, since most of these mothers are not full-grown. They’re giving birth at twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Childbirth at early ages is especially dangerous; child brides are five times more likely to die giving birth than women in their 20’s.

What’s more, the babies born to these young girls often have low birth weights, increased health problems and are more likely to die before reaching the age of one than children born to adult mothers. Even worse, child bride mothers are susceptible to a nasty condition called obstetric fistula, in which the vagina tears during childbirth. Most of these obstetric fistulas go untreated, and they lead to constant outflow of body fluids.

Sometimes, girls are rejected completely because of this condition and no longer even have a husband to rely on. Furthermore, child brides are more likely than unmarried girls to contract HIV/AIDS. Having not been able to go to school and build up confidence, most child brides have no control over their husbands’ extramarital behavior. And because they are married, husbands don’t feel the need to use contraceptives with their wives, thus increasing the chances of transmission of HIV/AIDS or other STDs.

Additionally, child brides are often the victims of domestic violence. Girls just don’t command enough respect to be able to protect themselves against violence. But wait! There IS a solution!

Tell me!
Education has proved to be extremely effective in combating child marriage. In Tanzania, girls are 92% less likely to marry before eighteen if they have attended secondary school (high school) compared to girls who only reached primary school (elementary and middle school). In addition to educational development, anti-domestic violence programs are encouraged, to teach women to be assertive. Health centers can help with the treatment of HIV/AIDS and obstetric fistula.

But how can I help with things like that?
You can help by printing and signing the School Girls Unite petition against child marriage, or by directly contacting your representatives and telling them that you want them to pass:

The International Child Marriage Prevention and Protection Act of 2007 (S 1998) (The Senate Bill)

Library of Congress - Actual text of bill

ICRW summary

International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (HR 3175) (The House of Representatives Bill)

Library of Congress - Actual text of bill

ICRW summary

These are basically the same and would ensure that loans and federal aid given to developing countries which practice child marriage would help develop educational facilities, among other anti-child marriage measures. For example, federal aid going to Mali would require the government there to allocate some of the money given to hiring more teachers, building more schools or even abolishing school fees (hooray!).

Source: International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)