Archive for category: Child Marriage

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Childhood Interrupted: Child Marriage in Mauritania

Child Marriage in Mauritania
Two horizontal stripes of red sandwich a large swath of green. Over the green is a five-pointed yellow star, centered above an upward-pointing yellow crescent moon. Mauritania’s flag is not just beautiful, it is also symbolic. The green, in particular, symbolizes hope. However, not all Mauritanians have hope. Child marriage in Mauritania diminishes hope for around 37% of Mauritanian girls. The country’s legal age for marriage is 18, but lax enforcement undermines the law, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Facts about Child Marriage in Mauritania

International human rights groups, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have advocated for measures to prohibit child marriage. The practice correlates with some adverse outcomes and creates a cycle of effects that often mirror those outcomes. Some of these are:

  • Lack of Education – Child marriage consistently correlates to a lack of education. Getting an education becomes even more difficult after marriage. When girls must manage a household and raise children, they have little time for school. The opportunities that an education provides, including the chance for financial independence, dwindle. Beyond that, the problem is cyclical: Research shows that interrupting a child’s education may have a negative educational impact on the next generation.
  • Poverty – The poorest Mauritanian girls are almost twice as likely to marry before age 18 than their wealthier peers. Because married children are also likely to have financial prospects hindered by incomplete education, child marriage perpetuates the cycle of poverty.
  • Less Autonomy and Agency – According to an article published in J Women Polit Policy, in Mauritania, more than 50% of married girls have spouses that are a decade older. Research shows that this age gap, along with the educational disparities, results in less autonomy for the girls. This power imbalance typically persists throughout the union.
  • Psychological Distress and Isolation – These married girls leave familiar surroundings to live many miles away from friends and family. Alone and away from the familiar, they find themselves without a support system when they most need it.

Efforts to Address Child Marriage in Mauritania

Change takes time, but Mauritania has taken some steps to address the issue. Mauritania’s 2001 law making marriage under 18 illegal is not a solution on its own, but it is a first step that acknowledges the inherent problems with the practice. But guardians can circumvent the law by granting permission for a child under 18 to marry. The child must also agree, but his or her silence is considered consent. By eliminating this exception, the government would show an even greater commitment to ending child marriage in Mauritania.

Mauritania is one of several countries that has committed to ending child marriage by 2030, which aligns with target 5.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. According to Girls Not Brides, the country demonstrated this commitment by addressing its progress in the 2019 Voluntary National Review, a government report delivered during a political forum. Mauritania has implemented the Sahel Women Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD). SWEDD aims to keep girls in school, recognizing that lack of education is a key correlate to child marriage. It also aspires to stigmatize child marriage through education.

Some may question the impact of these seemingly symbolic steps, but a research study submitted to the Ford Foundation found that “the failure to view early marriage as a problem is chiefly what accounts for the persistence of this harmful traditional practice.” As Mauritanians like to say, “A hen cannot lay eggs and hatch them on the same day.” With each signed agreement, each law and each international commitment, Mauritania is that much closer to stigmatizing and ending child marriage.

– Vickie Melograno
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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How Mobile Phones Can Fight Child Marriage

Mobile Phones Can Fight Child Marriage
A March 2021 report by UNICEF indicates that as many as 100 million girls in the world could experience child marriage in the next 10 years. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted school shutdowns, financial distress, parental mortality and early pregnancy, putting millions of girls at risk of child marriage. Several organizations have created initiatives to reduce child marriage amid the pandemic and many of the initiatives revolve around mobile phone use. Mobile phones can fight child marriage and gender discrimination by raising awareness with hotlines, social media and apps designed to educate and empower young women.

Driving Forces Behind Child Marriage

In countries where child marriage is prevalent, many parents feel social and economic pressures to marry off their young daughters. Parents who do not have the resources to support all of their children may feel that pushing their daughters into marriage is the only financial option. Patriarchal norms, economic instability, lack of educational opportunities and poverty can all increase the commonality of child marriages in developing countries. According to Girls Not Brides, many parents believe child marriage will increase their daughters’ safety and reduce the risk of sexual and physical abuse, even though this is quite the contrary — spousal abuse is quite common in child marriages. Mobile phones can fight child marriage by raising awareness about laws, rights, job opportunities and alternatives to child marriage.

The Naubat Baja Project

The National Family Health Survey 2020-21 (NFHS-5) revealed that, in Rajasthan, 25.4% of females between 20 and 24 years old entered into marriages before the age of 18. In rural areas of Rajasthan, child marriage rates of females are higher at 28.3% in comparison to 15.1% in urban areas.

The Naubat Baja project began on International Women’s Day in 2019 to reduce child marriage in Rajasthan and empower girls through mobile phones. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) worked in collaboration with the Government of Rajasthan, the Directorate of Women Empowerment and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Foundation to launch the initiative. The idea behind the project is to target youth using their “favorite” technological devices: mobile phones.

When girls call the Naubat Baja number, they receive a phone call back that contains a recording about government welfare schemes, job opportunities and information about child marriage, health, hygiene, COVID-19 protocols and other themes that are relevant to girls in Rajasthan. Various forms of entertainment, such as songs, stories and short audio dramas, which Naubat Baja updates regularly, relay much of this information. Initiatives like the Naubat Baja project model how mobile phones can fight child marriage and gender discrimination by providing girls with access to empowering resources and information.

Apps and Social Media

Many mobile phones support apps and social media that can fight child marriage and uplift girls who are at risk of it. The creators of the Naubat Baja project used social media and graffiti to popularize the initiative among young people. While many low-income areas lack access to the internet, launching a project like Naubat Baja on social media can help gain national and global support from communities that do have internet access.

Several developers have also created apps that prevent child marriage. Bangladesh has a child marriage prevalence of 51%, ranking in the top 10 nations with the highest rates of child marriage globally. An organization called Plan International Bangladesh designed an app for marriage registrars to verify young women’s ages before entering into marriage. In its first six months of use, the app prevented more than 3,700 child marriages.

Between apps, social media and hotlines, mobile phones offer a range of technological resources that can empower girls and fight child marriage. The rising popularity of mobile phones makes their influence increasingly widespread, especially among youth. The Naubat Baja project exemplifies how technology can lead to social development and spread awareness about pressing issues like child marriage.

– Cleo Hudson
Photo: Unsplash

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Child Marriage in Yemen

Child Marriage in Yemen
Child marriage in Yemen is a centuries-old human rights violation. Adults, especially those living in poverty, force young teenage girls to marry men decades older than them due to reasons such as the relief of costs in caring for a child and for the heightened protection of a husband’s family. Perhaps worse than the basic psychological harm of having to enter into marriage, child brides endure abuse and face life-threatening risks. According to a 2019 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 4 million Yemeni girls are child brides and 1.4 million of these brides are younger than 15 years old. This practice needs to end to protect young girls physically and emotionally. Banning child marriage in Yemen would ensure young women the human rights they deserve.

The Impacts of Child Marriage

Because they are so young, when child brides experience intercourse or pregnancy, it often leads to physical complications. As Sarah Ferguson from UNICEF USA states in an article, “Child marriage increases a girl’s risk of violence and abuse and jeopardizes her health. Sometimes, it’s fatal.”

Yemeni child brides also lose their education rights. Young girls with dreams and aspirations should be able to endure a life of growth and opportunities. Further, husbands and family members expect young girls who marry to know how to handle managing a household. This factor influences parents in pulling daughters out of school to learn how to do so.

In a 2018 CNN interview, a 12-year-old girl named Halima spoke out about how her father forced her sisters to enter marriages and then pressured her to do the same. She spoke about how all of her friends’ families took their daughters out of school to get married. Unfortunately, Halima’s father also pushed her to ignore her desire and passion to become a physician.

The Government’s Failure to Protect Young Women

The government of Yemen has not been able to pass an effective civil agreement to curb child marriage. On February 11, 2009, the Parliament agreed to set the minimum age of marriage at 17. However, the Sharia Legislative Committee overruled that effort. In March 2010, the Parliament redrafted the bill, however, the Sharia Legislative Committee rejected it once again. When asked about why there is no minimum age limit for marriage, the Sharia Legislative Committee stated that having a minimum age for marriage is “un-Islamic.”  Twelve years later, in 2022, there is still no minimum age for marriage in Yemen.

Financial Desperation Leads to Child Marriage

In addition to Sharia law, financial hardship also pushes families to resort to marrying off their daughters. Whether it is because they cannot afford to take care of their daughter or because the family will receive a sum of money, many parents turn to child marriage as a way to ease their financial situations. To this degree, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Charlie Yaxley said at a virtual briefing in May 2020, “We are seeing a growing number of families resorting to harmful coping mechanisms such as begging, child labor and marrying off children to survive.”

The Solution to Child Marriage

Child marriage in Yemen has been an issue for centuries, but currently, there are human rights advocates who are taking strong stances against it. For example, UNICEF delivers life-saving services and supplies to Yemeni child brides. UNICEF also promotes awareness. For example, it does this by sharing stories of young girls who have had to fight for their lives in violent marriages, and how they have been able to survive, and eventually thrive, due to programs promoting their independence.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are urging governments, including Yemen, to immediately take steps to eradicate the practice. Among other rights violations, the committees specifically argue that child marriage is a setback to women’s rights and the ability to receive an education.

There are also individual human rights advocates who are taking up the issue. Nada al-Ahdal is a young Yemeni woman who escaped child marriage. She created an online video about her story that went viral. After that, she founded the Nada Foundation with the prime minister of Yemen to support young women in child marriages.

She also wrote a book published in several languages that advocates against the practice. Now based in London, she speaks around the world to encourage everyone to fight against the practice. In a 2021 IMIX story about her, she says, “I have met so many brave girls from across the world; Serbia, Pakistan, India, Morocco, Egypt. They are working so hard to change their communities. It’s not just their duty, it’s all of us, all of our duty.”

Looking Ahead: Advocacy for Policy Change

As child brides, young girls in Yemen are having their hopes, dreams and rights dissolved. Child marriage increases the risk of physical and emotional abuse as well as maternal mortality. However, with the help of advocacy within and beyond Yemen, the Yemeni government should eventually glean the power to establish effective change.

– Hayat Nagi
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Child Poverty in Indonesia

Child Poverty in Indonesia
Young children between the ages of 0 and 14 made up almost 26% of the population in Indonesia in 2020. Moreover, according to UNICEF, about 2.1 million children endure child poverty in Indonesia in 2021. Taking a closer at the country’s circumstances of child poverty provides insight into the severity of the situation.

5 Facts About Child Poverty in Indonesia

  1. Secondary Education Completion Lags Behind. In Indonesia, the net primary school enrollment rate stood at 93% in 2018, however, in that same year, the net secondary school enrollment rate stood at 78%. The reason for this disparity stems from the fact that Indonesia offers free education only up until grade 9, meaning, the next three years of secondary education that follow are not free. This serves as a barrier to secondary school completion as many impoverished families cannot afford the costs. Additionally, some families suffer from such severe poverty that they require their children to work to add to the household income instead of going to school. Many parents also pull their daughters out of school to shoulder the burden of household responsibilities because they do not see girls’ education as valuable in comparison to boys’ education. In addition, in impoverished communities, child marriage is prevalent. Many families resort to taking their daughters out of school and pushing them into a child marriage to ease the economic burden on the family.
  2. Child Labor is Rife in Indonesia. In 2020, the number of child laborers in Indonesia equated to 1.17 million, with many working in agriculture. The prevalence of child labor stems from circumstances of poverty as well as a lack of access to education. Indonesia pledged to eradicate child labor by 2022, and although it has not fully achieved this goal, it has made significant progress. Between 2009 and 2018, Indonesia reduced the number of child laborers from 4 million to 2.9 million by improving access to quality education to prevent children from dropping out of school and engaging in labor. The nation also has a commitment to informing parents about the importance of children’s education.
  3. Child Marriage is Prevalent. Child marriage is more common in impoverished/rural communities. According to UNICEF, Indonesian girls from families “with the lowest levels of expenditure” are nearly “five times more likely” to enter a marriage or union before the age of 18. In addition, girls from rural Indonesia “are three times more likely to marry before age 18” in comparison to urban Indonesian girls. Over a span of 10 years, child marriage rates in Indonesia reduced by 3.5%, although this rate is still far from the goal of 8.74% for 2024. UNICEF also states that one in nine Indonesian girls enter into marriage before the age of 18, which equates to 375 girls marrying each day.
  4. Poverty Impacts Future Earnings. According to a study that the Asian Development Bank Institute published in September 2019, Indonesian children who grow up in circumstances of poverty are likely to earn less in their adulthood. The study says, “Our instrumental variables estimation shows that a child who lived in [an impoverished] family when aged between 8 and 17 years old suffers an 87% earnings penalty relative to a child who did not grow up in [an impoverished] family.”
  5. Save the Children Addresses Child Poverty in Indonesia. The global children’s organization has provided assistance to Indonesia’s impoverished children for more than 30 years. Save the Children has also provided emergency assistance for almost all of Indonesia’s natural disasters. When a severe earthquake and tsunami hit Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, Save the Children supplied water, shelter, hygiene supplies and healthcare to children and families. Emergency responders provided assistance to more than 70,000 affected children. Child sponsorship programs beginning in 2014 ensure children learn the knowledge and skills necessary for success and ensure the overall health and nutrition of children. All in all, Save the Children has provided more than 23,000 “[Indonesian] children with a healthy start in life” and “protected 45,079 children from harm” while supporting more than 11,000 families in meeting their children’s basic needs.

Looking Ahead

Although the situation of child poverty in Indonesia is improving, disparities remain. Geographical differences lead to inequalities between different regions, which directly affects the country’s children. The fact that the nation comprises 17,000 islands spanning about 3,200 miles makes it very difficult to assist all population groups. Regarding the nation’s economic development, since 2016, Indonesia maintained annual GDP growth of around 5% until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With ongoing efforts to reduce child poverty in Indonesia, impoverished Indonesian children can look to a brighter future.

– Ander Moreno
Photo: Flickr

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Consequences of Child Marriage in Niger 

Child Marriage in Niger 
Niger, one of the largest countries in West Africa, holds the highest rate of child marriages compared to the rest of the world. In fact, 75% of young girls marry before turning 18. This is because the nation’s legal marital age is 15 for girls and 18 for boys. Although Niger has made efforts to reduce child marriage, the country has noted only minimal progress in the last 20 years. As a result, many consequences have arisen from child marriage.

Why Does Niger Have a High Child Marriage Rate?

First, child marriage in Niger harshly affects girls deprived of attending school because they need to rely on others to survive. In addition, many young girls choose to drop out of school because of the unsafe learning environments. As a result, they cannot live an independent life due to the lack of income and confidence to make rational decisions. Due to few other options for their futures, many families decide to marry their daughters off for financial stability.

According to the World Bank, Niger has a poverty rate of 42.9%. However, Niger’s population continues to increase, causing the number of people in poverty to grow. Currently, many families are struggling financially, so they view child marriage as a way to alleviate their financial burdens. Because of this, marriage becomes “a strategy for economic survival” due to the lack of social protection, according to Save the Children.

Moreover, child marriage in Niger is common because many communities believe a woman’s purpose is to become a housewife and bear children. Due to this belief, families tend to prioritize the education of sons over daughters. To add, marrying young is a way that Niger communities attempt to prevent pregnancy before marriage, which is “a source of shame for the family,” Save the Children reports.

Consequences of Child Marriage in Niger

Although families aim to avoid pregnancy before marriage and look for financial stability by marrying their daughters off at a young age, this only causes more damage in the long run. For example, without education, young girls are unaware of the risks of early pregnancy. In fact, these young girls are at greater risk because 30% of the young girls show signs of malnutrition. As a result, “maternal mortality constitutes 35% of all adolescent deaths between ages 15 and 19,” according to Save the Children.

Not only do women face physical challenges but they also face mental health challenges caused by marrying at a young age. This is because young girls have to abruptly transition to adult life and take on responsibilities they are not mentally prepared to tackle. They are still at an age that requires guidance from a guardian. In a BMC Public Health study, many Nigerian girls expressed emotional distress and depression due to fulfilling their marital responsibilities and sexual demands from their husbands.

Due to the common practice of child marriage in Niger, young girls do not have the opportunity to have a childhood and face threats to their lives and health. For instance, some experience domestic violence and cannot return to school to escape these living conditions. Unfortunately, young married girls “have worse economic health outcomes than their unmarried peers, which are eventually passed down [sic] to their own children,” UNICEF reported.

How is Niger Receiving Help to End Child Marriage?

UNICEF is working to help implement laws and policies to help end child marriage and work within Nigerian communities to address the social norms that encourage child marriage. UNICEF partnered with the Niger Traditional Leaders and Association and the Islamic Congregation because they are well respected in their communities and can create new rules for people to follow.

Due to these advocacy efforts, the Niger Government created a national action plan, “Towards the End of Child Marriage in Niger,” that convenes every month to discuss what the community needs to do to advocate for better treatment of young boys and girls. Fortunately, “Education sessions by the Village Child Protection Committees were able to prevent cases of child marriage through direct mediation with parents and assisted girls to return to school,” UNICEF reported.

Lastly, Plan International Niger is helping girls establish confidence to fight child marriage in their communities. As a result, the young girls are using their voices and asking their leaders to end child marriage and provide them with an education to gain independence through employment. The Plan International Niger placed child protection committees throughout Niger and provided them with the tools to protect the rights of young girls to ensure change.

Child marriage is common in Niger, but it has far-reaching negative impacts on girls, such as emotional stress and depression. To add, young girls are at risk of domestic violence and pregnancy complications due to their age and malnutrition. These young girls have to become adults at an early age, which strips them of their childhood experiences. Fortunately, many young Nigerian girls are receiving help in an attempt to end the cycle of child marriage.

– Kayla De Alba
Photo: Flickr

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Child Marriage in Afghanistan On the Rise

Child Marriage in Afghanistan
With limited resources and an absence of income to support themselves, Afghan families may sell their children to make ends meet, resulting in a significant level of child marriage in Afghanistan. To illustrate, the 9-year-old Parwana Malik family sold her to Qorban, a 55-year-old man, for $2,200 in an arrangement of sheep, land and cash. Thinking about what her future holds as a wife to Qorban, Parwana fears her husband will beat her and force her to work in his house. Regrettably, however, Parwana’s family does not have enough money to afford necessities to keep all its members alive and healthy. In fact, before her family sold her, it sold Parwana’s 12-year-old sister.

Background of Child Marriages in Afghanistan

Child marriage in Afghanistan can cause suffering and damage in a child’s life. For example, many child brides experience domestic violence, discrimination, abuse and poor mental health. Child marriage in Afghanistan is common but illegal. The minimum age for marriage is 15 or 16 years old for women and 18 years old for men. In the past, many families opted for child marriages to pay back any personal debts, settle disputes, or create friendships with rival families to decrease their enemy count.

In 2016, the National Ministry of Women and the Ministry of Information and Culture created the National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage, bringing organizations from 90 different countries together to help end child marriage in Afghanistan and ensure the legal age of marriage be 18.

However, this act was short-lived. Now, with the increasing hardships of acquiring money and jobs, Afghanistan families are selling their young daughters “for large dowries from wealthy people, and the husbands are usually much older,” according to UNFPA.

Afghanistan is a country that has always relied on foreign aid, with 75% of its finances coming from grants from the United States and other countries. Unfortunately, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the country’s economy worsened, leading to difficult living conditions for many people.

Poor Economy Causing an Increase in Child Marriages

When the United States military withdrew, the Western powers and international organizations stopped sending humanitarian aid by blocking overseas equipment and valuables to focus their time on taking the Taliban away from power.

Additionally, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) halted payments. As a result, Afghanistan workers and people are not receiving income to feed themselves and pay for other expenses, leading to families selling their children for money.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), “recent surveys have revealed that only 5% of families have enough to eat every day.” Not only are they not receiving enough money to support themselves, but there has also been an increase in food and cooking oil prices and the country has lost about 40% of its wheat crops.

As winter approaches, WFP mentions that Afghanistan families will run out of food, pushing them further to the brink of starvation. For example, to avoid selling his daughter, Parwana’s father would travel to the main cities of Afghanistan hoping to find a job, but he was always unsuccessful.

In addition, he would ask for money from other family members, while his wife would beg their neighbors for food, but they received little assistance. Having to take care of eight other family members, Parwana’s father felt obligated to sell Parwana to keep the rest alive, according to CNN.

Where Afghanistan is Receiving Help

Fortunately, WFP is helping Afghanistan’s dire situation and improving their nutrition to rebuild their strength. According to WFP, it has “provided 6.4 million people with food assistance, including more than 1.4 million people since the Taliban takeover.”

In September 2021, WFP sent 10 trucks into the country with nutritional supplements for young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Currently, WFP has a team of people in the most remote parts of Afghanistan to deliver food to communities they might not reach in the winter months due to blockades of snow.

Not only is WFP asking for $2.6 billion in 2022 in aid for Afghanistan, but the U.N. has made an emergency appeal for $606 million to meet areas that need it the most. Although the United States and other countries are not sending any aid into the country, Afghanistan is receiving relief elsewhere, improving the lives of many and decreasing the number of child marriages in Afghanistan.

– Kayla De Alba
Photo: Flickr

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Reforms Regarding Child Marriage in Sri Lanka

Child Marriage in Sri Lanka
Through a landmark decision by the Cabinet of Ministers in Sri Lanka, Muslims now have the option to marry under the Sri Lankan Marriage Registration Ordinance, the common law that governs marriages and divorces. This is a significant change because the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) that has governed Muslim marriage and divorce discriminates against Muslim women. Additionally, Sri Lanka’s justice minister Ali Sabry has proposed legislation to raise the minimum age for marriage under the MMDA to 18. These two reforms are crucial steps in addressing child marriage in Sri Lanka.

Child Marriage and Its Impact

Child marriage is the practice of marriage in which one or both parties are under 18. This practice presents severe risks to children, especially young girls. Married children are less likely to complete their education. According to World Vision, girls are three times more likely to marry before 18 when they do not receive schooling, as opposed to those who attend school beyond the elementary level.

Child marriage also comes with physical risks including complications with early pregnancies, or exposure to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Those entering into child marriage are also more likely to become victims of sexual abuse or domestic violence. Around the world, girls are 50% more likely to experience physical or sexual abuse if they marry before they turn 15 than those who marry after 18.  This underlines the fact that some child marriages occur as a way to cover up a sexual assault to avoid scandal. The effects of child marriage are psychologically and physically damaging to children and violate their free will.

In addition to cultivating human rights violations, child marriage is also both a big driver and a significant consequence of poverty. Some families marry their children off because it gives them one less child to fund. In other communities, it is a way to offset debt because dowries for a younger girl are lower. Marriage may keep young brides from accessing their education and better jobs or professions. Economic dependence on their partner may also trap them in long-term financial insecurity. Child marriage limits the growth of individuals and by proxy, the growth of communities.

Child Marriage in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, poverty and lack of education have contributed to the practice of child marriage, but traditional laws have fueled its continuation. Sri Lanka has a lower rate of child marriage than other countries in South Asia. However, it is still prevalent, mostly within some Muslim communities. Passed in 1951, the MMDA has relegated Muslim marriage governance to Islamic law versus common law. Sri Lankan common law does not allow marriage under 18, but the MMDA has set the minimum marriage age at 12. Further, Islamic officials have permitted the marriage age to be even lower. Additionally, if females married under the MMDA could not sign their marriage contract, a “wali,” or male guardian needed to do so. With virtually no previous protection against child marriage for Muslims in Sri Lanka, the recent governmental reforms should make a significant difference.

Progress in Ending Sri Lankan Child Marriage

The new marriage contract alternative now protects children from entering into marriages by force. Additionally, the fact that the MMDA has raised the marriage age to 18 has made all child marriages in Sri Lanka illegal. Further, this will prevent any registered child marriages. Various past appeals, especially from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), prompted these reforms.

In collaboration with the Sri Lankan government and other organizations, UNICEF signed the June Declaration to End Violence Against Children in Sri Lanka by 2030. This declaration is part of the National Partnership to End Violence Against Children, which began in June 2017. UNICEF’s work launched on-the-ground efforts to give community leaders, police and government officials training on the effects of child marriage. The organization has also worked to provide economic support for women and initiate policy reform. These efforts have helped reduce the overall child marriage rate to 25 million, which is fewer than predictions from 10 years ago.

Despite UNICEF’s achievements, its most significant obstacle has been government cooperation. For several years, UNICEF pressed the Sri Lankan government to involve legal action against the practice of child marriage. Now, the new legislation that the Sri Lankan Cabinet has implemented will address this call to action.

Issues like child marriage require a multifaceted approach that addresses its enabling factors. Because Muslim law allowed child marriage, the practice continued even with UNICEF’s efforts to address it. Yet, the new legal action combined with continuing on-ground efforts brings hope to Sri Lanka. Thanks to the new legislation by the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers, a significant decline of  Sri Lankan child marriage seems within reach.

– Hariana Sethi
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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David Beckham’s 7 Fund Protects Vulnerable Children

7 FundDavid Beckham is a father, former professional soccer player, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ambassador and a philanthropist. While Beckham played for the Manchester United Football Club he was also supporting UNICEF. In 2005, Beckham was appointed as the new ambassador for UNICEF. The former soccer player is supporting and advocating for the well-being of children globally. In 2015, to commemorate 10 years of supporting UNICEF, UNICEF and Beckham partnered to start the 7 Fund.

The 7 Fund

The 7 Fund aims to empower vulnerable children in nations across the world, including Indonesia, Nepal, Uganda and El Salvador, by addressing issues such as “bullying, violence, child marriage and missed education.” Within the initial three years of its establishment, the 7 Fund had already made a significant difference in children’s lives.

Child Marriage in Nepal

According to the 7 Fund, “Nepal has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Asia.” Girls who marry young often drop out of school, leaving them uneducated and unable to break cycles of poverty. The 7 Fund tackles child marriage in Nepal by ensuring that girls receive the support needed to stay in school or return to school to fulfill their full potential. In addition to helping “build life skills” for both boys and girls, the organization also supports the provision of mental health services for these children. Importantly, the 7 Fund educates parents and communities at large on the detrimental impacts of child marriage in order to reduce its prevalence.

The Story of Rashida Khatun

On its website, the 7 Fund showcases the inspiring story of Rashida Khatun, a 14-year-old girl in Nepal. Child marriage is common in Khatun’s community. Despite her yearning to receive an education, she could not due to her family’s impoverished circumstances. Her parents prioritized the education of her three brothers while she and her sisters had to shoulder household chores. Her four older sisters were “married as teenagers” and she was next in line.

Khatun’s world changed when she joined a “UNICEF-supported non-formal education program for girls” in her area, with permission from her father. The nine-month-long Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) program focused on empowering “out-of-school adolescent girls by giving them basic numeracy and literacy lessons and useful life skills.” Khatun told UNICEF Nepal that when she initially started the classes, she was not aware “that children had rights, or that child marriage was a violation of those rights or that it was actually illegal.”

Through the GATE program, Khatun was educated about the dangers of child marriage and decided against it. Khatun and a GATE class facilitator eventually managed to convince her parents to cancel her marriage, allowing her to continue to pursue an education that would one day help her rise out of poverty. The story of Khatun is an illustration of the importance of 7 Fund efforts to address child marriage in Nepal. Roughly 10,000 Nepali girls are now part of “a return to school” program.

Tackling Malnutrition in Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, one out of 13 children dies before reaching the age of 5, mostly due to malnutrition. The 7 Fund looks to reduce child malnutrition in Papua New Guinea through lifesaving programs. In a 2015 press release by UNICEF, Beckham says, “I feel very proud to be in Papua New Guinea to see for the first time how the money raised is helping to keep children healthy and safe, by providing life-saving therapeutic food for children suffering from malnutrition.”

Addressing Bullying in Indonesia

The 7 Fund acknowledges that the effects of bullying can stay with an individual for life. With one in five Indonesian children between 13 and 15 experiencing bullying, the issue is important to address as bullying diminishes self-esteem and negatively impacts mental health. The 7 Fund is supporting anti-bullying initiatives in Indonesian schools, focusing on “training teachers and helping schools put safeguarding plans in place, helping to reduce rates of school dropout and child marriage and creating a safer school environment to enable children to thrive.” Due to these efforts, incidences of bullying have reduced by almost a third.

Prioritizing Girls’ Education in Uganda

Within Uganda, nearly 60% of the girls are unable to go to secondary school due to violence in school and pressure to stay home to help manage the household. To ensure girls stay in or return to school, the 7 Fund is supporting “teacher training and creating protection systems to track and report violence.” The Fund is also focusing on educating parents and communities on the lifelong benefits of girls’ education for both the girls and their families.

Beckham’s 7 Fund is a prime example of using a celebrity platform to make a difference. Overall, the 7 Fund protects and empowers children with the knowledge and tools to rise out of poverty.

– Carolina Reyes 
Photo: Flickr

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Fighting Social Acceptance of Child Marriage in India

Child Marriage in India
Soon after her wedding to a man seven years older than her, 14-year-old Muskaan told Delhi photojournalist Saumya Khandelwal that her marriage “had to happen.” Muskaan, who is from India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, reflected on the region’s social acceptance of child marriage in India.

Child Marriage in India

Despite India’s attempts to curb child marriage through legislation, the damaging practice persists. About 27% of all Indian girls marry before their 18th birthday, with this statistic being higher in rural areas. Meanwhile, the northern states of Bihar and Rajasthan see between 47% and 51% of their young girls married as children.

Still, progress has occurred. While almost 47% of Indian girls 18 and younger married between 2005 and 2006, this rate dropped to 18% between 2015 and 2016. Key influences have been government programs that promote women’s education and empowerment. The improvements were undoubtedly clear and especially impactful in increasing the presence of women in higher education and the workforce, paving the way for a generation of independent and educated young women. However, local developments under COVID-19 have unearthed the social acceptance of child marriage in India and the factors that erode local approval.

COVID-19 in India

India’s official COVID-19 case count stood at a staggering 32.2 million as of August 14, 2021. The country faced a four-phase lockdown in 2020 along with several states instating rigid curfews. The economic impacts of these necessary public health measures have been disastrous as the Indian government estimates that the nation’s GDP shrank by almost 8% since the beginning of the pandemic. Meanwhile, up to 75 million people have slipped into poverty, only earning a meager income of 150 rupees or around $2 per day.

Specifically, the Indian informal economy seems to have taken the hardest hit. Comprising farm workers, construction workers and migrant laborers, this sector has no access to political support or union representation. With meager amounts of government aid reaching these vulnerable workers, many headed back to their homes in rural India hoping for reduced living costs.

Government Aid

Many of the Indian government’s schemes to help lower-income families centered around schools to encourage education. Government-run schools provided breakfast and lunch to their students free of cost prior to the pandemic, but with students learning from home, the program quickly ended. Parents who sent their daughters to school received compensation under one of the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign’s many programs in 2015.

However, the education programs faced a lack of funding despite being instrumental in balancing the male-female sex ratio in 108 districts. Simply put, the government’s programs have not met their full potential, limiting how well Indian leaders can address child marriage. The pandemic has only worsened access to the Indian welfare system, especially for migrant workers from rural areas who see child marriage as a solution to better their daughters’ financial opportunities.

Families facing dire financial situations often contemplate marrying their young daughters off to men who belong to local, stable families. A daughter’s departure from her home means that her parents no longer have to provide her with food, clothing and education. Provided she is young and healthy, she may marry a groom with plenty of money to provide for her needs. For parents burdened with the pandemic’s economic consequences, the route seems appealing.

Social Pressures

Many parents view marriage as a way to provide stability for their daughters in a country with much gender-based violence. Police reports from investigations into local child marriages show that parents of young girls worry that letting them go to school and work while being unmarried may signal their availability to predatorial men.

This mindset typically prevails in rural areas. Data from Bihar, an Indian state that reports the highest number of child marriages, has shown that 44.5% of women from rural areas married before the age of 18 from 2015 to 2016 compared to 29.1% of women from urban areas. In rural areas, the local community has united and affirmed that marriage provides financial security, respect and safety to young girls.

Solutions

Landmark legislation such as the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) has created a jail sentence of up to two years for parents and village elders authorizing illegal child marriages in India. The act also established local committees to intervene in individual cases but left enforcement up to state governments. In many cases, state officials simply did not appoint committee members or assigned committee work to social workers with already high caseloads. While child marriage statistics have been continually dropping, much of this progress is due to similar growth in literacy and access to education instead of PCMA’s impact. Indian legislation is powerful, but it faces setbacks in actualizing its potential.

Currently, local police are instrumental in stopping child marriages by arriving on the scene and arresting elders arranging weddings, but they work through anonymous tips and face resistance from locals. They are unable to stop all child marriages or truly fight the mindset of parents. Specialized teams with social workers will be able to communicate with parents and village elders and prevent future weddings. It is important that these groups receive funding and support from global governments as these solutions stretch beyond simply sending individuals to jail — the true solution to child marriage in India is through changing mindsets.

Looking Ahead

Despite determined attempts by the Indian government to limit child marriage in India through legislation, the destructive practice still continues. The COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed the economic and social motivations that drive child marriage forward in Indian society. Solutions include realizing the potential of legislation and promoting the presence of social workers and NGOs working on the ground to change the social acceptance of child marriage in India.

– Shruti Patankar
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Addressing Child Marriage in Morocco

Child marriage in MoroccoChild marriage in Morocco is still widely prevalent in 2021, though there are efforts to expand girls’ rights and empower women. A worldwide issue, child marriage is an issue Morocco has long struggled with because of various legal frameworks. But, there is hope for the country’s girls as activists and groups work to reform laws and curb child marriage in Morocco.

Child Marriage and Poverty

There are many reasons why child marriage in Morocco is so prevalent. Most significantly, it is a longstanding cultural tradition as well as a widespread practice in Islam. Once a girl starts menstruating, according to Moroccan society, she has reached “the marriageable age.” Additionally, girls in rural Morocco must preserve their virginity until they become wed. Since the act of reproduction is so signifcant, families marry off their daughters at early ages because it “allows young women to have more children than those married later.”

Child marriage also enforces economic and social stability as marriage comes with money, status and property. Often, these girls come from families suffering in poverty. Because girls get married off early, they miss out on educational opportunities, making them completely dependent on their husbands. Consequently, poverty and illiteracy are driving factors in the girls’ futures, exacerbating cycles of poverty even further.

Moudawana

According to Morocco World News, Morocco’s Family Code, also known as Moudawana, is the root of the problem in permitting child marriage. In 1958, Morocco established Moudawana, a traditional family law that permits practices such as “polygamy and forced marriage.” The traditional family law was the main legal framework responsible for legitimizing forced child marriage.

However, the Family Code was officially reformed in 2004 to raise the minimum marriageable age of girls to 18 and provide more rights to women in marriages. This includes rights to inheritance and the sharing of marital property. While the law still permits polygamy, it is legal only under strict conditions. Activist groups like the Moroccan Women’s Rights Movement have been advocating for these changes to allow more rights to women and girls. Nonetheless, challenges persist.

Looking at the Numbers

According to Reuters, 16% of Moroccan girls younger than the age of 18 marry illegally, despite the revised Family Code law prohibiting this. Since the 2004 reform, the number of underage marriages surged by almost 50% by 2016, though some activists claim this statistic should be higher. Families get around the Moudawana through loopholes in the law, allowing them to marry off their daughters at earlier ages. According to Morocco’s Ministry of Justice, in 2019, 98% of requests for marriage to underage girls came from rural regions. This exemplifies the difference in ideology and practice between rural and urban areas as well as how circumstances of poverty increase the likelihood of child marriage.

Hope for the Future

Despite these statistics, there is hope for combating child marriage in Morocco. In 2020, the National Council for Human Rights and the United Nations Population Fund partnered for “a collaborative effort to end child marriage and promote sexual and reproductive health in Morocco.” Through education and awareness, the organizations’ joint missions will ensure poverty is alleviated alongside ending child marriage.

Additionally, the Moroccan organization called Droits & Justice is also working to end child marriage in the country. The organization launched the Combatting Underage Marriage through Legal Awareness (CUMLA) Project in 2014. The initiative educates young girls, parents and entire communities about the severe consequences of child marriage.

By partnering and collaborating with local associations, Droits & Justice hopes to increase local awareness and create large-scale change. With these methods, the organization is hoping to get closer to eradicating child marriage in Morocco. Droits & Justice “has succeeded in educating more than 500 women, including 250 underage girls.” The organization also helped with almost 30 child marriage cases.

Although child marriage has been a longstanding issue in Morocco, legal reform and the efforts of activist groups are encouraging. These are signs that Morocco is approaching a culture free of child marriage, and consequently, a future free of poverty.

– Laya Neelakandan
Photo: Unsplash