By Sarsha, Niki and Vivian Child Marriage By Sarsha, Niki and Vivian

Marriage to older men in Yemen: Child marriage, defined as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18, is as reality for both boys and girls, although girls are disproportionately the most affected. Child marriage is widespread and can lead to a lifetime of disadvantage and deprivation.

An 8-year-old Yemeni girl died after sustaining internal injuries following intercourse with her husband who was 40-years old after an arranged marriage. Child marriage is dominant in Yemen and the seriousness of the issue was noted by the international media in 2008 after Nujood Ali, who was 9 years old at the time, approached a court seeking to end her 2-month-old marriage with a man in his 30s.

Statistics: One third of girls in the developing world are married before the age of 18 Yemen is one of only two countries in the world with no legislation on a minimum age of marriage. If present trends continue, 150 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday over the next decade. That’s an average of 15 million girls each year.

Girls living in poor households are almost twice as likely to marry before 18 than girls in higher income households. According to Human Rights Watch figures from 2006, 14% of girls are likely to be married y the time they reach 15 and more than 50% before the age of 18. Girls with higher levels of schooling are less likely to marry as children. In Mozambique, some 60 percent of girls with no education are married by 18, compared to 10 percent of girls with secondary schooling and less than one percent of girls with higher education.

Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence than their peers who marry later. Girls who were married before 18 were twice more likely to report being beaten, slapped or threatened by their husbands than girls who married later. Child brides often show signs symptomatic of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress such as feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and severe depression. One in three girls are married before the age of 18 in Yemen, which is approximately 14million girls every year.

How we can make a difference: We could improve child marriage to older men by changing restrictions where young girls don’t have to marry if they are not willing to. We could also create awareness of this issue to prevent these young girls from being abused physically and mentally.

Graphs: Yemen

Mortality Rates in Yemen: Today, there are over 700 million women worldwide that are married as children. Babies are more likely to die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth when their mothers are teenagers compared to if they were in their twenties. It is proven that teenage mothers have a larger chance of their children being born dead or their children dying in the first month of life.

Mortality rates: By having a baby at such a young age, it will most definitely put the teenager under heavy economic disadvantages. They won’t have enough money to fend for themselves, let alone have enough money to provide all necessary equipment in raising a child.

Statistics: Teenagers younger than fifteen years old are five times more likely to die during child birth. In Yemen, one in ninety women dies during childbirth, according to the White Ribbon Alliance. Pregnant teens are at much higher risk of having serious medical complications such as Placenta Previa, Pregnancy-induced hypertension, Premature delivery, Significant anaemia, Toxemia.

Not only are the women at more of a risk, but the baby will also be effected such as being born with a low birth weight. It is also more likely for Teen mothers to have unhealthy habits that place the infant at greater risk for inadequate growth, infection, or chemical dependence. Because the pelvic bone aren’t fully developed or at their maximum size until a woman is 18, it will make it a lot harder and painful for her to try and give natural birth to a normal sized baby.

Graphs: MMR= Maternal Mortality Rate

How we can make a difference: We can make a difference by providing fundraises to help provide the people with Yemen nurses so that they can have safe childbirths. By providing nurses the chances of having a stillborn will be reduced as well as reducing the chances of the mother dying as well.

Poverty in Child Marriage Child marriage is most common in the world’s poorest countries and is often concentrated among the poorest households within those countries. It is closely linked with poverty and low levels of economic development. In families with limited resources, child marriage is often seen as a way to provide for their daughter’s future. But girls who marry young are more likely to be poor and remain poor.

Statistics: Over half of the girls in Bangladesh, Mali, Mozambique and Niger are married before 18. In these countries, more than 75% of people live on less than $2 a day. (Population Reference Bureau, 2005) Girls from poor families are nearly twice as likely to marry before 18. Laws against child marriage are often violated for the reason that a young daughter is may be sold to an older a man in exchange for him to promise to support their family.

Child marriage or marriage without the free and full consent of both spouses is a human rights violation and is not in line with several international and regional agreements, including: -Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)   -Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriage -Convention on the Rights of the Child -Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Graphs:

Bibliography http://www.icrw.org/child-marriage-facts-and-figures http://www.ibtimes.com/yemeni-child-bride-8-married-40-year-old-man-dies-internal-injuries-after-wedding-night-1404210 http://data.unicef.org/child-protection/fgmc http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/child-marriage-map/387214/ http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/17/opinion/opinion-yemen-child-marriage/ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001516.htm 

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