However, international and local observers continued to report widespread forced and early marriage. The afghan government took a concrete step towards addressing child marriage this week by launching a national action plan to eliminate early and child marriage. Child marriage is particularly pervasive across south asia and africa, where 5070 percent of girls in some countries are married before the age of 18 unicef, 2009. This is an encouraging development in a country where 33% of girls are married before the age of 18. Marrying as a child compromises a girls development and severely limits her opportunities in life. The the causes, consequences and solutions to causes, consequences and solutions tocauses, consequences and solutions to forced forced forced child marriage child marriage child marriage in the developing worldin the developing world testimony submitted to u. According to article 70 of the afghan civil law, child marriage for girls is considered to be before the age of 16 since the legal marriageable age is 16 for girls and 18 for boys. According to a united nations childrens fund unicef report, girls who. When boys are taken out of school early, they, like girls, face decreased livelihood. These are the countries where child marriage is legal. This disturbing figure bears more than a cursory glance. Escaping child marriage in afghanistan unfpa united.
In the least developed countries, that number doubles 40 per cent of girls are married before age 18, and 12 per cent of girls are married before age 15. Delaying child marriage through communitybased skills. In afghanistan, a new law was written into the countrys code enabling shiite, or hazara, communities to impose their own form of family lawincluding permitting child marriage. In terms of scholarship and international attention, the region is often overshadowed by the child marriage hotspots of. Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital.
A significant amount of research confirms that child. In 2018, afghanistan is receiving an assessment of no advancement. Yet investments to end the practice are limited, and. Most of the time, young girls marry older men, but adolescent boys also marry young. However, the 1976 law also has important weaknesses. Despite being prohibited by international law, it continues to rob millions of girls under 18 around the world of their childhood. Multisectorial afghan perspectives on girl child marriage.
In afghanistan, however, coerced child marriage persists. The elimination of child marriage by 2030 is a target under the sustainable development goals sdgs. For instance, there are different minimum ages for marriage for males and females, with 18 for males and 16 for females, in contravention of the convention on the rights of the child, to which afghanistan is a signatory, which specifies. Child marriage unfpa united nations population fund. However, in bangladesh, where efforts to prevent child marriage have focused on the enforcement of laws and policies, little research exists on what approaches work best to delay marriage and why. Afghanistan is a member of the south asian initiative to end violence. Globally, one in every five girls is married, or in union, before reaching age 18. The consequence and solution for child marriage the. Child marriage still a challenge for afghan girls rawa news. Contributing factors include different forms of genderbased violence, poor education, limited access to healthcare, and not being allowed outside the home. Afghan boys suffer many of the same risks, along with military recruitment into armed conflict, and sexual exploitation.
Child marriage is the formal or informal marriage of a child under the age of 18 most often the marriage of a young girl to an older boy or man. It may be a way to unite families, perceived as necessary to secure a girl s future and safety. The rights of women and girls, including free dom from child marriage and domestic vio lence, have generated emotionally charged debates in afghanistan over the past decade. Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a woman. A minor in a child marriage can be a girl or a boy, but the large majority of child marriages are between a girl and a man, and are rooted in gender inequality. The increased number and frequency of conflictrelated incidents has caused an alarming rise in child casualties. In chapter 1, we provide some background information on forced marriage, the gaps and shortcomings of existing literature, and a discussion on how this information is relevant to programmes aimed at eliminating this practice. Although getting reliable data is difficult, the most recent surveys estimate some 46 per cent of afghani women are married by age 18, 15 per cent of them before age 15.
The objective of this study was to identify afghan perspectives on the causes of and potential solutions to child and forced marriage in the country. Child marriage, a form of early and forced alliance, is steeped in harmful traditional norms and practices. Child, early, and forced marriage each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18, marking the start of their lives as wives and mothers well before they are physically or emotionally ready. Child marriage, defined as marriage of a child under 18 years of age, is a silent and yet widespread practice. Child marriage in afghanistan is so common that over 30 percent of all girls are married before the age of 18. Child marriage a formal marriage or an informed union before the age of 18. Marriage before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. The age for marriage is approved 16 for females and 18 for males in afghanistans civil law. Afghanistan ratified the convention on the rights of the child in 1994, which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 2003, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage. Afghan law prohibits marriage before 16 for girls and 18 for boys, although a court or girls father may consent to her marriage at 15. Child marriage is widely considered as a violation of. Sadly, many afghan women also face forced child marriagedespite it being illegal. Child marriage occurs everywhere in the world, but this paper focuses on the practice in the global south where the rates of child marriage tend to be the highest.
Findings on the worst forms of child labor afghanistan. The issue is more concentrated in countries of sub saharan africa and south asia. Although afghanistan made some efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, government officials are complicit in the use of forced commercial sexual exploitation of boys through the practice of bacha bazi. Defining child marriage according to the international conventions to which afghanistan is a signatory marriage of a person under the age of 18. The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child.
Family law in afghanistan family law today in afghanistan. House of representatives human rights commissions human rights commission. Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between an adult and a child or another child under age eighteen. Marriages generally are not recorded in this country. Child marriage may be arranged or adolescents themselves may decide to marry before their 18th birthday. It is worth mentioning that forced and underaged marriages are not rife only in afghanistan, but it has been changed into a global challenge. Child marriage is still a massive problem in many developing countries. The primary objective of this report, prepared on behalf of the government of the islamic republic of afghanistan s ministry for labour, social affairs, martyrs and the disabled molsamd in collaboration with unicef afghanistan, is to provide contextualised analysis on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of communities in order to inform the development of future programming to either mitigate the impacts of child marriage or prevent further engagement in child marriage across afghanistan. Glossary term definition source baad marrying a woman to someone as blood money or for the purpose of bringing peace and reconciliation among the families regarding murder, sexual assault or. Child marriage statistics show child brides have a diminished chance of completing their education and are at a higher risk of being physically abused, contracting hiv and other diseases, and dying while pregnant or giving.
For example, in afghanistan, the legal minimum age for marriage is 16 or 15 with the consent of a parent or guardian and the court for girls and 18 for boys. Child brides have double the pregnancy death rate of women in their twenties. Government data indicates that girls who do not study are three times more likely to marry before the age of 18 than girls who have completed secondary education or higher. While data alone wont solve afghanistans child marriage crisis, understanding peoples perceptions of it, as well as the challenges and social pressures that influence their decision. Consequently, there are many questions we cant answer. Early marriage in afghanistan and the low level of education for women which has a long term effect on the role these play in the countrys political, social, and economic life 1. According to a report published by the tahirih justice center, there are states in which there is no minimum age for marriage. The government opened a juvenile rehabilitation center for. Poverty, illiteracy, gender discrimination, and lack of access to healthcare and education are the largest drivers of child marriage in afghanistan. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. A child marriage, also referred to as an underage marriage in the united states, is a marriage in which at least one party is under the age of eighteen years the marriage age in the united states is set by each state, territory and federal district. Marriage should be a time for celebration and joy unless you are one of the 64 million girls around the world forced into marriage before the age of 18. Today, over 60 million marriages include girls under the age of 18 years. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread.
Child marriage is associated with reduced mental health and wellbeing, particularly for women who marry at very young ages. Aside from causing immense emotional and physical duress for child brides, the practice also massively hinders the girls ability to access education. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide protection, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a countrys civil registration system. Afghan girls face early marriage, honour killings, domestic abuse, and sexual violence. The leading cause of death for young girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in developing countries is early pregnancy. Afghanistan launches national action plan to end child. Many girls who are married off before they turn 18 or are forced into early marriages are made to leave school, depriving them of their right to education and future independence. Poor health, early death and lack of educational opportunities lead the list of problems attributed to child marriage. Current national law treats boys and girls differently, with the age of marriage at 16 for girls, and for boys, 18. Poor families are tempted to sell their girls not just into marriage, but into prostitution, as the transaction enables large sums of money to change hands.
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