Child marriages across continents:

Being still a global problem even in the progressive year of 2022, child marriages genuinely are still a worldwide issue that affects people from all walks of life, cultures, faiths, and races. Albeit its innumerable negative impacts on young girls and women, including lack of access to education, loss of freedom of choice, vulnerability to health issues like infant and maternal mortality, and sexually transmitted illnesses, its occurrence still escalates.

Tahani (in green) recalls the early days of her marriage with her husband (Majed), who was then 25 years old, and expressed how she hated him so much every time she saw him, she hid. The captured bride was seen together with her former classmate, a child bride. Continents, languages, religions, and castes all play a role in child marriage where it affects women's human rights. Child marriages are usually defined as a union where one or both partners are under 18 and are usually arranged through parental consent. However, many girls are wed off to much older men in most cases.

For instance, in Yemen or Afghanistan, where early marriages rates are higher than in other countries, their husbands range from young men, middle-aged widowers, or abductors who rape their victims first and then claim them as wives, as is the case in some Ethiopian regions. (Gorney, 2022).

Additionally, child marriages are also a means of business transactions in some cases. Specifically, for those living in more rural areas where their means of support are shallow, parents tend to wed off their young girls to sustain themselves. Furthermore, child marriage often jeopardises a girl's development by causing early pregnancy and social isolation, delaying her education, limiting her career and vocational progression options, and putting her at risk of domestic violence. For instance, a 13-year girl from Congo refuses her parents' order to be wed off due to her demands to continue studying. Case in point, improving access to education is key to reducing child marriage which can be seen when Sunil, an 11-year-old girl from Rajasthan India had, threatened to report her parents to the local police when an arranged married had been set without her consent. Sunil being 13, is still schooling with her mother, acknowledging that being educated will be advantageous.

In deciding to interfere with child marriages globally, this issue has been addressed constantly in many international conventions and agreements. For instance (UNICEF, 2017) stated that the right to protection from child marriage is covered in article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which states: "The betrothal and marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage." Hence, as a community member, investing in this global issue should be taken into account in helping girls empower themselves through education.

Written by Nur Ainarissa Binti Nasir

Gorney, C. (2022). Too Young to Wed. Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/child-brides

UNICEF. (2017). Child marriage - UNICEF DATA. UNICEF DATA. https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/