Child marriage is a common practice that remains prevalent in developing countries. Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. Usually the child is married by force. Child marriage is a traditional practice that has been in place for generations. It is a practice that should be abolished. Girls are forced to endure many devastating experiences that causes lifelong consequences that they have to live with. “Globally nearly one in three girls are married before the age of 18 and one in seven is married before the age of 15”(Svanemyr). The highest rates of early marriage was found in west and northern Africa.
There are many factors that influence the practice of child marriage. The biggest factor being …show more content…
For example, In Ethiopia, child marriage has been apart of the customs and traditions of Orthodox Christian communities for so long that it is accepted even though the Orthodox Church is against the practice. In Muslim communities, Islam permits child marriage. The Quran states that a girl can be married when she reaches maturity. Because of the debate about at what age is a girl considered mature, Islamic scholars agreed to use the international age of maturity which is 18. Even though this age is recognized as the age of maturity, young girls are still forced to marry. The reason being tradition. These customs are very difficult to get rid of because of the duration that they’ve been around for. Child marriage is a human rights violation. There are many international agreements that outlaw child marriage such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against women. These laws are put in place to protect the rights of all people even children. Child marriage goes against all of these treaties because without the consent of both spouses, child marriage is considered a human rights violation (Clark, para. …show more content…
There are many programs that are in place that will increase educational and economic opportunities for girls. For example, The Christian Children’s Funds Naning’oi Girls Boarding School is a boarding school project in Kenya that encourages parents to commit their daughters to school instead of committing them to marriage. Parents promise to enroll their daughters for a 8 year completion. This boarding school has 98% completion rate. Another program called The Berhane Hewan is a program in Ethiopia. It works to prevent child marriage by working with unmarried girls and those in child marriage. It is a program funded by the UN and the other ministries. The program targets married and unmarried girls ages 10-19 years old in rural Ethiopia. It provides them with mentoring from adult women in the community, economic incentives to remain in school and improves access to reproductive health information and services.
The percentage of girls participating in Berhane Hewan who had ever married decreased from 10% to 2%. The program also found that adolescents ages 10-14 years old in the program delayed marriage while adolescents 15-19 years old were likely to marry. The results shows that the program was able to delay marriage age by a few years but not delaying marriage all the way to age 18 (Raj,
There are many factors that influence the practice of child marriage. The biggest factor being …show more content…
For example, In Ethiopia, child marriage has been apart of the customs and traditions of Orthodox Christian communities for so long that it is accepted even though the Orthodox Church is against the practice. In Muslim communities, Islam permits child marriage. The Quran states that a girl can be married when she reaches maturity. Because of the debate about at what age is a girl considered mature, Islamic scholars agreed to use the international age of maturity which is 18. Even though this age is recognized as the age of maturity, young girls are still forced to marry. The reason being tradition. These customs are very difficult to get rid of because of the duration that they’ve been around for. Child marriage is a human rights violation. There are many international agreements that outlaw child marriage such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against women. These laws are put in place to protect the rights of all people even children. Child marriage goes against all of these treaties because without the consent of both spouses, child marriage is considered a human rights violation (Clark, para. …show more content…
There are many programs that are in place that will increase educational and economic opportunities for girls. For example, The Christian Children’s Funds Naning’oi Girls Boarding School is a boarding school project in Kenya that encourages parents to commit their daughters to school instead of committing them to marriage. Parents promise to enroll their daughters for a 8 year completion. This boarding school has 98% completion rate. Another program called The Berhane Hewan is a program in Ethiopia. It works to prevent child marriage by working with unmarried girls and those in child marriage. It is a program funded by the UN and the other ministries. The program targets married and unmarried girls ages 10-19 years old in rural Ethiopia. It provides them with mentoring from adult women in the community, economic incentives to remain in school and improves access to reproductive health information and services.
The percentage of girls participating in Berhane Hewan who had ever married decreased from 10% to 2%. The program also found that adolescents ages 10-14 years old in the program delayed marriage while adolescents 15-19 years old were likely to marry. The results shows that the program was able to delay marriage age by a few years but not delaying marriage all the way to age 18 (Raj,