Ranu Chakma said, “My marriage was 14 years old, and I lost my first child at the age of 16 during pregnancy.” On the southern coast of Bangladesh, even though it is illegal and human rights violations.
Violations occur at a time when many countries are banning illegal practice, recently in Columbia, where a law came into force earlier this month.
There are five common misconceptions about child marriage here:
Myth 1: It is always illegal
Child marriage has been banned under several international agreements, for the end of all forms of discrimination against women from the Convention on the Rights on the Child and Convention to the Action of Action of International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. Nevertheless, there are 640 million women and girls in the world who were child brides, with more child marriage every day.
how is that possible? Many countries prohibate child marriage in principle, but define the permissible era of marriage as exceptions with exceptions with the consent of something or parents or under religious or customary law. In many cases these marriages, and marriages, are not legally registered, which makes the enforcement of law difficult.
To address child marriage requires more than laws; It needs to be reconsidered how society gives importance to girls.
In Bihar, India, programs like Talim-e-Nubalighan, where two out of five children marry before the age of 18, are having an impact. These programs encourage youth to think about subjects such as gender roles and human rights.
“That’s why I was able to help my sister,” a male student said Altamash, whose sister wanted to avoid child marriage and continued her studies. “When I understood his wish and how it would help him, I advocated my father for him. She is now going to complete her education, and I am proud of her. ,
In Madagascar, information sessions are important in changing the brain and raising awareness about child marriage and other harmful practices.
Myth 2: Sometimes child marriage is necessary
The child is wider in the marriage part as it is seen as a solution to other problems.
In humanitarian crises, the rate of child marriage often rises, marriage with parents will secure the future of a daughter, which will make a husband financially supporting her and protecting her from violence. Child marriage is seen as a solution that will preserve the honor of a girl and her family – or in some cases first – she becomes pregnant. In developing countries, most teenage births occur within a marriage.
Nevertheless, child marriage is not a real solution to any of these issues. Child marriage leads to girls with high levels of sexual, physical and emotional violence from their intimate partners. Pregnancy is dangerous for girls; Complications of pregnancy and delivery are one of the major causes of death among adolescent girls. Child brides and adolescent mothers are often forced to get out of school, increasing their future prospects.
In Madagascar, 16 -year -old Nicollets were accustomed to seeing their classmates who disappeared from school after getting married and pregnant, he never thought of questioning the practice. Until she participated in an UNFPA-supported awareness session.
“I didn’t know that we could be a victim of child marriage,” he said. Now, she wants all the girls in her community to know: “Everyone has the right to feel their ambitions, and marriage is an option.”
More than three -fourth of girls in Niger are married, while they are still children.
Myth 3: This problem is going away
Child marriage can look like a problem of past or distant places, but in fact it is a serious threat to girls around the world.
While the rate of global child marriage is gradually falling, places with highest rates also have the highest population growth, meaning that the complete number of child marriage is expected to increase.
The problem is really global. The biggest child brides in Asia and the Pacific region live, the highest rate of child marriage is seen in sub-Sahara Africa and lack of progress in Latin America and Caribbean means the second highest spread of child marriage by 2030 in the region.
Nevertheless, this issue is not limited to developing countries. It also occurs in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
“I was originally introduced to someone in the morning, and I was forced to marry her that night,” Sara Tasnim said, recalling her marriage, “First at the age of 15, an informal spiritual association at the age of 15 legally at the age of 16. “I immediately became pregnant, and we were legally marrying in Reno, Nevada, where only the permission signed by my father was required.”
To change this, the tasks should be intensified to eliminate child marriage, especially by empowering girls.
In Niger, 16 -year -old Hadiza said, “I was 13 years old, when my father gave me a hand in marriage to a cousin.” Fortunately, she had access to a safe place through an UNFPA -backed youth program. “I spoke to a safe space mentor, who interacted with his parents to postpone the marriage with the help of the head of the neighborhood.”
Today, Hadiza is a trainee for a tailor, who learns skills to become financially self -sufficient. “In three years I plan to marry the man I love,” he said.
Nurse Suvanah Sinaakaba, Namalio, participates in the UNFPA-supported mobile clinic in Namalio village of Zambia.
Myth 4: This is a cultural or religious issue
Child marriage is sometimes presented incorrectly as a religious or culturally compulsory practice. However, there are no major religious traditions that require child marriage.
In fact, cultural and religious leaders around the world often take a strong stand against child marriage, especially when providing evidence about the results of the practice.
“We have always taught young people that religious and legally, it was not appropriate,” said Shirkhan Chobanov, the Imam of Jumah Mosque at Tabilisi, Georgia. “We also explained to those youth that they had to complete other tasks, mainly about their education, before thinking about starting a family.”
UNFPA works with confidence leaders around the world who are working to end the child’s marriage, including priests, monks, nuns and Imams.
Gabrigaziber Tiku, a priest from Ethiopia, said, “We are seeing very good results, as far as the child’s marriage is related.”
Myth 5: This happens only for girls
While most child marriage is included in girls, boys can also be married.
According to 2019 data, 115 million boys and men were married before 18 years of age. These unions are associated with early paternity, constrained education and less opportunities in life.
Nevertheless, girls are inconsistently affected by this practice, one of one of which got married by five young women aged 20 to 24 in the age of 20 to 24 in one of the age of 20 to 24, who is married before their 18th birthday. Child marriage rate for boys is also very low in countries where child marriage is relatively high among girls.
Youth empowerment programs are reaching all teenagers with information about their human rights in Nicaragua, with the highest rate of child marriage among boys.
It does not matter that the sex of the child is affected, nor the country where the Sangh is, child marriage is a harmful practice that needs to be addressed to a common set of root causes. They include factors such as economic inequality, sexual and reproductive health services and limited access to information and conflict. One of the biggest root causes – gender inequality – requires immediate and renewed focus.
“When we have abolished child marriage, we have not abolished hunter masculinity,” Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. at the University of West Indies. Gabrielle Hosin said in Trinidad and Tobago, “Shortly after that country, that country had canceled child marriage.
Kevin Liverpool, a worker from the Advocacy Group Kariman, said that men and boys have an important role.
He said, “It is important to raise awareness among these groups, between these individuals, what is feminism, why gender equality is important for women, but also for men and all of the society,” he said.
