Causes and Impacts of Girls' Early and Forced Marriage in Society

Every year, more than 12 million girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18. These girls then see their right to childhood and education stolen, and their prospects for the future and development limited. Child marriages keep young girls in conditions of poverty and powerlessness, from generation to generation. 

What is early and forced marriage 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines forced marriage as the union of two people, one of whom has not given their free and full consent to the marriage. Child marriages refer to any marriage involving a child under the age of 18. Early and forced marriage therefore refers to all child marriages. 

Forced marriage is a violation of fundamental human rights, including freedom and physical integrity. Child marriage is a global violation of human rights and has serious impacts on their health and economic empowerment. This traditional practice deprives girls of their childhood and exposes them to violence, rape, sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, early unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. 

12 million girls under the age of 18 are married each year, or almost 1 girl every 2 seconds. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 10 million more child marriages are expected to be concluded before the end of the decade. 

Causes of Early and Forced Marriage 

Globally, 1 in 5 girls is forced into marriage before the age of 18. Around the world, 650 million women today live having been married as children. This phenomenon is explained by:

• Gender inequality - In societies that practice child marriage, girls and women have a lower status than men. Girls are married off young because they are seen as a burden on the family and their well-being is not a priority. 

• Poverty - In developing countries, a girl is often seen as a burden. Her marriage allows the parents to have one less mouth to feed, to enrich themselves and to create strategic alliances with another family. 

• Certain traditional practices - In many countries, the honor of a family passes through female virginity. Parents marry off their daughters long before they are ready to have sex to prevent them from becoming pregnant and becoming unmarried. 

• Lack of birth certificates - 166 million children have not been registered at birth worldwide. Girls with no legal identity cannot provide proof of their young age, which proves the illegality of early marriage. 

• Lack of enforcement - Even when early marriage is prohibited, many families are unaware of it and/orbreak the law. In some countries, this violation is so accepted and normalized that penalties are rare. 

• Emergency situations - Precarious situations (conflicts, natural disasters, humanitarian crises) increase the economic pressure on households, resulting in families who would never have led them to marry off their daughters too young. 

The consequences of early and forced marriage 

Early and forced marriage has serious consequences on a girl's life, but also on her community and her entire country: 

• Gender-based and sexual violence - Child marriages often lead to gender-based violence and sex on the part of the husband, and sex is often forced. 

• Health risks - These include risks related to early pregnancy, the leading cause of death among 15-19 year olds, but also HIV because even if a girl has had the chance to receive sex education, she is rarely capable of safer sex. 

• Early marriages keep girls in their inferior status to men and do not allow them to escape from poverty. 

• Unschooling - Once married, a girl is considered an adult and is cared for by her husband. She no longer has any interest in going to school. Domestic chores and raising children don't leave them the time anyway. However, educating girls is the best tool in the fight against poverty. An educated girl gives birth to fewer children and, sensitized to the importance of education, she ensures that her children have a quality education and thus in turn fights against early marriage. 

• Perpetuating the lower status of women and poverty - Early marriage keeps girls in their lower status than men and does not allow them to escape poverty. This is an unfair situation and a huge lost potential for the development of communities and countries. 

To fight against child marriage. For this Plan International: 

- It is necessary to carry out awareness-raising actions with parents and local authorities in order to inform them of the dangers of early marriage and the rights of girls; 

- Awareness-raising actions must be carried out among children and young people to inform them of their rights and teach them how to defend them; 

- Advocacy with governments to act on child marriage laws or existing laws; 

- We must fight against the barriers to education in order to keep girls in school (access to school, tuition fees, school safety, installation of drinking water points and correct sanitary infrastructures, against child labour, etc.); 

- Possibly, help families to increase their income through the creation of savings groups and generating activitiess income to prevent parents from marrying off their daughters and having the means to send them to school; 

- But also support girls in their struggle to obtain a birth certificate that proves their age; 

- Intervene to stop an ongoing forced and early marriage, reintegrate girls into school and offer scholarships to young girls; 

- Support young girls and boys who are campaigning in their community against child marriage.

Voici la version francaise de cet article: https://diplomacy-development.blogspot.com/2022/07/causes-et-impacts-du-mariage-precoce-et.html

Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor