Child for marriage is defined, a male below the age of 18 years and a female below the age of 16 years. Girls are forced into marriage by their families while they are still children. In more parts of the world, one and top of the main cause of early marriage is a gratification for overcoming the family's financial and affable needs. Child marriage violates the rights of children.
Causes of child marriages include poverty, bride price, dowry, cultural traditions, laws that allow child marriages, religious and social pressures, regional customs, fear of remaining unmarried, illiteracy, and perceived inability of women to work for money. Let's see some points about major problem of child marriage:
Mental Complexes: Young teenage brides have higher rates of lifetime mental illness than women who marry as adults, a new study discovered. This study was undertaken by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and is published in the journal Paediatrics.
Researchers reviewed statistics from the United States National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and found that among American women who were married before the age of 18 there is a significant trend toward mental health problems. The researchers found that women who married when young were also more likely to have a lower level of education and income, and generally come from rural areas of the United States. They were also at a higher risk of being dependent on nicotine.
The physical health of the female spouse in a child marriage faces several threats. These young girls are often the victims of domestic violence, and lack the means to advocate for themselves. Additionally, child brides often live with their husband's extended family, which may also be a source of violent abuse, in crowded conditions. Girls under 18 who get married are more likely to experience mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders.
Physical Complexes: Child brides are often disempowered, dependent on their husbands and deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education and safety. Neither physically nor emotionally ready to become wives and mothers, child brides are at greater risk of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth, becoming infected with HIV/AIDS and suffering domestic violence.
In this country, between 1996 and the present, 97% of child marriages were of girls. These girls can be as young as 12 as was the case in 2008. Marriage of girl children is a sheer perversion. It legitimizes conduct that would otherwise be child sexual abuse.
Evidence shows that girls who marry early often abandon formal education and become pregnant. Maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are an important component of mortality for girls aged 15-19 worldwide, accounting for 70,000 deaths each year (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2009). If a mother is under the age of 18, her infant's risk of dying in its first year of life is 60 per cent greater than that of an infant born to a mother older than 19 (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2009).
Even if the child survives, he or she is more likely to suffer from low birth weight, under nutrition and late physical and cognitive development (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2009). Child brides are at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2009).
Finally, child marriage often results in separation from family and friends and lack of freedom to participate in community activities, which can all have major consequences on girls' mental and physical well-being. Married adolescent girls tend to have higher HIV infection rates than their unmarried, sexually active peers.
Child brides are more likely to contract HIV over their lifetime, as their husbands have often had sexual partners before them. They are also more vulnerable to intimate partner violence, a factor that has been shown to increase the likelihood of contracting HIV. Girls generally are less well informed than boys about HIV and how to protect themselves.
Education and Economy: In South Asia, since the girls get married at younger ages, they have to quit school. Girls are less valued than boys and discriminated against; the families and communities do not put value on girls' education since they are believed to be a financial burden to them.
Not attending school or not being educated causes many girls to marry early, or vice versa, marrying too early means abandoning formal education. Lack of education means lack of awareness of the health consequences of child marriage and the legal age of marriage.
Child marriage is not legal by the South Asia's laws, but the people are used to follow their traditions more than the laws; if the girls were educated, they could be aware that child marriage was wrong.
Greater risk of death in childbirth: The most common early marriage problem is unplanned pregnancy. Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die during child birth or pregnancy than older women. Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide. Mortality rates for babies born to mothers under age 20 are almost 75% higher than for children born to older mothers.
Reason of child marriage: Child marriage has many causes: cultural, social, economic and religious. In many cases, a mixture of these causes results in the imprisonment of children in marriages without their consent. Poor families sell their children into marriage either to settle debts or to make some money and escape the cycle of poverty.
Preventing child marriages: Many experts working in this field say that child marriage can be reduced by improving girls' access to education and paid work, improving their confidence, increasing their knowledge of how their bodies work, raising awareness among communities of the consequences of child marriage and improving and enforcing laws.
Adopting a clear and unambiguous position on child and forced marriages and rectifying the legislative loopholes between religious, customary and civil marriages (Ouagadougou Declaration on Child Marriage, October 2003)
Child marriage must therefore always be considered forced marriage because valid consent is absent - and often considered unnecessary. Young girls who get married will most likely be forced into having sexual intercourse with their, usually much older, husbands. This has severe negative health consequences as the girl is often not psychologically, physically and sexually mature. Young girls are not ready for carrying out the responsibilities and roles of being a wife, sexual partner and a mother. child marriage has a serious negative impact on their psychological well-being and personal development.
The writer can be reached at: nituljannatneeti@gmail.com
