Stealing a Girls Youth
Blogged by Rachel and Zaheela
One in four girls get married as a child. Imagine if that child was you. There are over 700 million women all over the world that have been married as a child. Child marriage is an arranged marriage where one or both people involved are under the age of 18. This marriage can either be a formal or informal joining. Every year about 15 million girls are married before the age 18. Could you imagine being stripped of your childhood and forced into a marriage with someone you may possible barely know? A child that is forced into a marriage is often much younger than their partner. Child marriage is often “fueled” by inequality, poverty, traditions, and insecurity. They could also result in issues in one's life, and other family conflict. These marriages are often abusive and very difficult and sometimes impossible to get out of. They cause a wide rage of conflicts and difficulties to the person and it leads to many disadvantages. Child marriage happens all over the world and affects a wide range of countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. It has been estimated that by 2050 over 1.2 billion women will be married as children. Child marriage usually results in child brides becoming young mothers. They also usually don't have the chance of being educated which stops them from reaching their full potential. Also this does not give them the chance to be independent and they live their lives feeling like they are being controlled because they are so dependent of their husband. In canada the legal age in to get married is 16 with the consent of parents until they turn 18. A child deserves to enjoy their childhood. It's scary to think that such young kids are parents. Kids can barely take care of himself and they have to raise their own children. It is unreasonable that through such a precious moment of life, a child is forced into so many decisions and responsibilities that they are expected to live up to. Child marriage is intolerable and the world needs to know that if not stopped know, it is only going to get worse.
The top 5 countries with the highest rates of child marriage 
Country
|
Percentage of child marriage in country
|
Niger
|
76%
|
Central African Republic
|
68%
|
Chad
|
68%
|
Mali
|
55%
|
Bangladesh
|
52%
|
References
Image 1:
Rajagopal, K. (2017, October 11). SC verdict will have immediate effect on those in child marriage: Legal experts. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-verdict-will-force-people-in-existing-child-marriages-to-live-separately-experts/article19840796.ece
Image 2:
Ending Child Marriage in Africa. (2017, February 22). Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/09/ending-child-marriage-africa
Image 3:
Child Brides Are a HUGE Issue Across the U.S. (2017, March 25). Retrieved from http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/march/child-brides-are-a-huge-issue-across-the-u-s
Information:
Brides, G. N. (n.d.). Child marriage around the world. Retrieved from https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/where-does-it-happen/
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