On February 14, UNFPA renewed its call on the international community to say "I Don't" as a sign of support for girls around the world who have been forced to say "I Do."
UNFPA launched this initiative on 14 February every year since 2015, when the United Nations made ending child marriage one of its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, calling on the international community to accelerate an end to child marriage as a violation of human rights.
Child marriage has a long history. Since February this year, the issue has once again attracted global attention.
Earlier this month, the northeastern Indian state of Assam declared a "war" against child marriage. In less than two weeks, Assam police arrested more than 3,000 people, including men married underage girls, people who helped register child marriages, and pastors who officiated at weddings.
The move sparked widespread controversy, with protests erupting in various parts of Assam, with some women even threatening suicide with police to release their husbands and other family members. Some women's rights activists also say the arrests in Assam have only pushed India's huge number of "child brides" into deeper despair.
India has the largest number of child brides in the world, with about one-third of the world's child brides currently living in India. But child marriage is not a social phenomenon unique to India, and child brides are found in almost every corner of the world. Globally, about 650 million women are married before their 18th birthday, according to UNICEF.
The UN also noted that if the international community does not accelerate progress towards the goal of eliminating child marriage by 2030, 150 million new "child brides" will be added to the world in the next decade.
23 new ones every minute
"Last Friday, I helped arrange a marriage between a man of 17 and a 9-year-old woman." Fathi Hama, a 57-year-old woman from Niger, recently told The Irish Times, "This is the reality. ”
Hama explained that the two people she helped arrange were distant relatives, and the man paid the woman a dowry of 300,000 CFA francs (about 3,330 yuan), and the two later confirmed their marriage. However, the bride will not live with the groom until she turns 15.
"Everything. People come to (weddings). This is based on a traditional arrangement. Hama said.
Niger, located in the West African region, has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. According to UNICEF, 76 per cent of women in Niger are married before the age of 18, and 28 per cent are married before the age of 15.
In Niger, women can marry at the age of 15 and men at the age of 18 with the consent of both parents. In practice, marriages under the legal age are also very common in the Niger.
According to UNICEF's definition, the vast majority of marriages in Niger are child marriages. According to UNICEF, any marriage or informal union between any party under the age of 18 can be called child marriage. Child marriage is considered a form of forced marriage because children and adolescents under the age of 18 are considered unable to express their full and free will.
Globally, the numbers on child marriage are staggering.
According to UNICEF's website, more than one in five young women worldwide is married before the age of 18, cumulatively, there are now 650 million child brides in the world. Until now, around 12 million adolescent girls enter into marriage each year, which means that 23 adolescent girls become "child brides" every minute.
On October 28, 2021, local time in Epworth, Zimbabwe, local taekwondo instructor Natriaishe Maritsa and her students were training in taekwondo. With child marriage rampant in Zimbabwe and underage girls being abused, Natriaishe Maritsa hopes girls will learn to protect themselves with taekwondo. Photo/Visual China
Geographically, South Asia accounted for the highest share of child marriages, at 44%. This is mainly due to India's large population base, which accounts for one-third of the world's child marriages. In addition to India, Bangladesh also has a very high rate of child marriage, with 51% of children under the age of 18, and the country's population base is also very large, resulting in a very high number of child marriages.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of child marriage, with 37% of young women married before the age of 18. Among them, Niger, the Central African Republic and Chad are the three countries with the highest incidence of child marriage in the world, with a child marriage rate of more than 65%. Cumulatively, the region accounts for around 18% of child marriages globally.
In addition, East Asia and the Pacific accounts for 12% of child marriages globally, Latin America and the Caribbean 9%, and the Middle East and North Africa 5%.
The end of childhood
The United Nations has classified child marriage as a human rights violation, calling it a harmful practice because it threatens the lives and futures of young women, interrupts their education, makes them more vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and robs them of the right to make choices about their lives.
"Child marriage is a human rights violation that deprives girls of their bodily autonomy. Marriage is supposed to herald a new beginning, but child marriage only symbolizes the end of childhood and choice. The United Nations Population Fund wrote on its website.
In fact, child marriage affects not only girls, but also boys. However, child marriage affects girls much more than boys.
According to UNICEF, child marriage is accompanied by early pregnancy, which is a great burden on the health of adolescent girls. In many developing countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19 years, and infant and child mortality rates are higher during early pregnancy.
In addition to physical damage, child brides are more likely to experience domestic violence, social isolation, depression, suicide and other tendencies. By dropping out of school prematurely, their access to economic independence is also very limited, making them more vulnerable to intergenerational cycles of poverty. "Child marriage can lead to a lifetime of hardship." UNICEF said.
On February 17, 2016, local time, in Juchitan, Mexico, 14-year-old Luz Betsaida Orozco Pineda held her newborn child at home. Luz married her husband at the age of 13. Although the legal age of marriage in Mexico is 18, many girls become wives and mothers at an early age. Photo/Visual China
Nankali Maksud, senior adviser for UNICEF, told the Beijing News that there are many factors that lead to child marriage, and each country has different leading factors. But on the whole, most child marriages are influenced by factors such as family poverty, lack of education, and social traditions.
"Child marriage is a very complex issue that cannot simply be viewed or dealt with from a legal perspective. It is also a social issue, closely related to economic development, women's status, and women's rights protection. Maksoud said.
In fact, Mary Jone, a retired professor at the Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) at the United Nations, does not fully endorse the UN's call of child marriage as a "harmful practice."
Jon has been researching child marriage and women's rights for years. She said that through a lot of research, she does not agree that child marriage is "a harmful practice", in her view, child marriage is a combination of many social, economic, health, cultural and traditional problems, and is a very complex social phenomenon.
"Child marriage does bring a lot of harm, but we should also see that behind child marriage is poverty and the vulnerability of young girls." Jon emphasized, "Child marriage is the result of a lot of problems, not the cause. Many times, it also becomes the only option for girls because they have no other choice. ”
In Niger, poverty is a major cause of the high incidence of child marriage. According to the World Bank, Niger's poverty rate is as high as 42.9%, and the country's population continues to grow, which makes poverty continue to grow. For many poor families, they see child marriage as a way to relieve the stress of family life.
The NGO Save the Children noted that child marriage has become a "survival strategy" in Niger due to the lack of corresponding social protection. Meanwhile, in Niger's social tradition, the ultimate way out for women is to become a housewife and bear children for men. Based on this perception, many families neglect their daughter's education and marry her off early.
Valerie Koutou, Save the Children's Regional Advocacy Director for West and Central Africa, also pointed to Niger's polygamous tradition as a reason for the country's child marriage. "To show that he is strong and wealthy, a man may take 3 or 4 wives. This undoubtedly exacerbates the problem of child marriage. ”
"Climate Bride" attracts attention
Globally, child marriage is particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries.
In the least developed countries, the rate of child marriage is almost double the global average, with about 40 per cent of girls married before the age of 18 and 12 per cent under the age of 15, according to UNICEF. Child marriage is more prevalent in countries and regions severely affected by conflict and with deep humanitarian crises.
Of particular concern is the resurgence of child marriages caused by the pandemic. World Vision, an international charity focused on child protection, noted that many experts had expected child marriage to continue for decades before the pandemic. In the wake of the pandemic, poverty has increased, education has been hampered in many areas, and child marriage has become more prominent.
In March 2021, UNICEF warned that the pandemic could lead to an additional 10 million child marriages over the next decade. Together with the pre-pandemic estimate of 100 million, 110 million new child brides could be added globally in the next decade. In India alone, World Vision previously estimated that the pandemic could lead to 4 million Indian girls being trapped in child marriage.
Reetika Subramanian from Mumbai, India, is currently pursuing a PhD in interdisciplinary gender studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. One of her research focuses is child marriage.
Subramanian interviewed many Indian child brides and grooms. "In areas with high rates of child marriage, it's common for girls to leave school at 13 or 14, marry at 15, and have their first child at 16 or 17." Subramanian told the Beijing News reporter.
The incidence of child marriage is higher during the pandemic. Subramanian said that child marriage is largely related to the economic situation of a family, many people have lost their jobs, life is more difficult, and children have no school to go to, at this time many families may arrange child marriage to alleviate the pressure of survival. "During the pandemic, many families turned to child marriage as a way to cope with the crisis."
In addition, Subramanian is concerned that the climate crisis is also becoming an important driver of child marriage. She told the Beijing News reporter that in the western region of India where she conducted, drought often occurs, and in the face of natural disasters, many families will choose to arrange child marriage for their children to alleviate the current crisis, because marrying a daughter can get some bride price.
In fact, as climate change causes more and more catastrophic events, "climate brides" are gaining attention.
Elsa, 15, comes from a small village in Jamalpur district of Bangladesh where farmers suffer great losses every year after the monsoon season. At this time, it is also the period when child marriage is most frequent.
"In my village, when a family has financial problems, the first thing they think of is to stop their daughters' education and then marry them off." Aisha told the United Nations Population Fund. In 2020, Aisha was hit by floods and the coronavirus pandemic, and her parents nearly married her off, but thanks to UNICEF's intervention, Aisha escaped.
"The increase in 'climate brides' reflects the impact of economic vulnerability on child marriage. Natural disasters such as floods and droughts exacerbate poverty, affecting livelihoods, education, services, etc., which will undoubtedly put more girls in the trap of child marriage. ”
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, and although the minimum age for marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men, about 51% of women in Bangladesh are married before the age of 18. Currently, there are 38 million child brides in Bangladesh.
In fact, before the pandemic, Bangladesh had made significant progress in curbing child marriage. But in the wake of the pandemic, the number of child marriages in the country has risen again, raising concerns.
The answer to ending child marriage
In 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations General Assembly, aiming to thoroughly solve the development problems of the three dimensions of global society, economy and environment in the 15 years from 2015 to 2030, and achieve the 17 sustainable development goals.
Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. The third target of Goal 5 is to "eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation".
There is no doubt that the international community has made significant progress in ending child marriage over the past few decades, whether at the international, regional and national levels. UNICEF says 25 million child marriages have been prevented globally over the past decade, thanks to increased girls' access to education and increased public awareness of the dangers of child marriage. Among them, the South Asian region has made the most obvious progress.
According to a study released by the United Nations Population Fund in November 2019, eliminating child marriage is actually "very cheap". According to the survey, it will cost about US$35 billion to eliminate child marriage in 68 countries that account for 90% of the world's child marriages between 2020 and 2030. On average, it costs $600 to prevent a child from being involved in child marriage.
These funds are used for educational interventions, empowerment campaigns, skills training, and campaigns to promote change in social traditions associated with child marriage. With these investments, an estimated 58 million child marriages could be eliminated globally. At the same time, girls who avoid child marriage can create greater socio-economic value.
But the UN stressed in 2022 that, on current trends, no region can completely eliminate child marriage by 2030, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It noted that to end child marriage globally, progress on all fronts must be accelerated and sustained. Without further acceleration, more than 110 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday by 2030.
On February 18, 2016, local time, Juchitan, Mexico, 17-year-old Xochiquetzal Escobar and her boyfriend did ultrasound in the clinic, she is 5 months pregnant. Photo/Visual China
Ending child marriage globally will not be easy.
In fact, most countries in the world have signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which explicitly prohibit child marriage. However, many countries still allow child marriage, sometimes under religious or customary law. In some countries and regions where child marriage is explicitly prohibited, enforcement is also difficult.
The explanatory news network Dialogue reports that deep-rooted traditions and cultural practices make it extremely difficult to eliminate child marriage in many countries. According to statistics, in 146 countries around the world, girls under the age of 18 can marry with the consent of their parents or relevant authorities. In 52 countries, girls under the age of 15 can marry with parental consent.
According to Mary Jon, although the number of child marriages is decreasing globally, she does not believe that the world can completely eliminate child marriage by 2030. "The road to ending child marriage is not straightforward, and it may re-emerge when new problems arise, such as economic hardship, social chaos and even conflict."
Jon told the Beijing News reporter that legal prohibition or arrest according to law is not the answer to end child marriage, only by better solving poverty, education, health and other issues, giving girls more opportunities and choices, gradually changing the social tradition that women can only return to the family, so that women have more control over their lives, child marriage can truly disappear.
"It's important to empower women and let them know that they too can have a future beyond their families." Jon said, "We need more time and more effort to change the status quo of women. Arrest is not the answer, education and empowerment are key. ”
The UN has also noted that ending child marriage will require many changes, including strengthening and enforcing laws against the practice, promoting gender equality and ensuring community commitment to protecting girls' rights. "We are now at a turning point where a more coordinated approach by the international community is needed to achieve the goal of ending child marriage by 2030." Maksoud said.
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
Edited by Zhang Lei Proofread by Lijun Li