Underage Marriage By Avneet Khaira

About Child Marriage Every year over 10 million girls are forced to marry as children. Leaving their education and rights behind. Girls are married before they are 18 without any say in the matter. None of the girls are physically or emotionally ready to become wives or mothers. The girls are forced to work hard hours of the day cleaning. The girls are at huge risk of facing HIV or AIDS due to pregnancy and childbirth. The girls also face domestic violence. It is estimated that if we don’t act soon in 2030 15.4 million girls will marry as children! We need to get this known across the world!

Where About In The World? Where does it happen - Girls Not Brides.html The country that has the most child marriage’s would be Niger which has 75% of girls getting married before they reach eighteen years.

The Impacts On The Girls Watch the following links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P3iCVyny-o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6BYkpQD4X0

The Reason A main reason would be poverty. As a family, giving the girl to a man would mean they’d be able to reduce the family costs. Meaning they wouldn’t have to worry about feeding, educating and clothing the girl. In communities where a dowry or ‘bride price’ is paid, the poorer family would receive more family income. When the girl’s family have to pay the groom a dowry, they would have to pay less because the girl is young and uneducated. Many parents marry off their daughters young because they feel it is in her best interest, often to ensure her safety in areas where girls are at high risk of physical or sexual assault. There is another reason that in many communities where child marriage is practised, girls are not valued as much as boys – they are seen as a burden. Child marriage is a traditional practice that in many places happens simply because it has happened for generations.

A Boy’s Side Of Things Boys feel as if they cannot attend college or school because they have to look after their wife. “If our parents had not forced us to marry at such a young age, our lives would be so different” quoted Pannilal Yadev, a boy who was forced into marriage at the age of 7, he is now 25. The consequences of early marriage on young girls are well known, but millions of underage boys are also married off each year-and there is little research on their fates! Read this news article about child grooms: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/19/a_grooms_tale

How Does Religion Affect This Problem? Islamic Law states that if a girl passes puberty, she is allowed to be married - regardless of whether she is 9, 11, 15 etc. Grown-up Sikh boys and girls get married when they are fully able to take on the responsibilities of married life. Child marriage is forbidden. In most of the western countries the minimum age for marriage is 18 years (for Christians) Hindus do not believe in child marriages either.

Educating The Girls If the girls are educated then they will have a less chance of marrying when they are young. Improving girls’ access to quality schooling will increase girls’ chances of gaining a secondary education and helps to delay marriage. When a girl receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later. “Girls Not Brides members are working to empower girls by establishing girls’ groups that provide a safe space for girls to meet and share experiences, reducing their sense of isolation and vulnerability.” We need to give the girls opportunities to gain skills within their education.

The Law Most countries around the world have laws that set a minimum age of marriage, usually at age 18 however some countries allow children to be married if the parent has consent. Laws that set a minimum age of marriage are an important way to safeguard boys and girls from being married before they are ready. Child marriage or marriage without the free and full consent of both spouses is a human rights violation. As well as having strong and enforceable minimum age of marriage legislation, it is imperative that to have strong supporting legislation which protects women and girls’ rights.” Stated the charity Girls Not Brides.

Girls Not Brides

Reena’s Story: Laxmi’s Story: Education: Girl’s Voices Reena’s Story: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/young-bride-fights-back-reenas-story-india/ Laxmi’s Story: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/believe-can/ Education: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/video-no-to-child-marriage-yes-to-education-for-girls-in-india/

What Can We Do? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4v3vq5-z8Y First Let’s Watch These Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4v3vq5-z8Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQjBjqmNLM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7gaDc9Ip-I Here are some charities: http://www.care.org/work/womens-empowerment/child-marriage http://www.plan-uk.org/ http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/take-action/ http://www.girleffect.org/#

Together We Can Say NO To Child Marriage! With your help we can stop child marriage. Please take a look at these websites and donate because it is for a very good cause. Send This To Everyone You Know! We need to get this message across the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg&index=7&list=FLOoma9ZrGw4CHcIcmFxAY3w Thank You For Listening!