Child Brides Denied Education, Face Violence, Health Catastrophes
(Geneva, October 10, 2012) – As the world celebrates the first International
Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2012, eliminating child marriages should
be a key political priority for governments to protect the rights of girls and
women, Human Rights Watch said today.
Child marriages occur when one of the parties is below 18 years of age and are
a violation of human rights that disproportionately affects girls. Child
marriages also violate other human rights; including to education, freedom from
violence, reproductive rights, access to reproductive and sexual health care,
employment, freedom of movement, and the right to consensual marriage.
In 2005, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that over 100 million girls would get married over the next decade.
The UNFPA will present new data on prevalence of child marriage worldwide at
the United Nations on October 11, 2012.
“The first global Day of the Girl should usher in a renewed global commitment
to put a stop to marriages of children below age eighteen,” saidLiesl Gerntholtz, director of the women’s rights division
at Human Rights Watch. “Governments should work harder to prevent child
marriage and to increase awareness of the harm that they cause.”
Human Rights Watch has documented human rights violations against married girls
and boys in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India,
Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan,
Nepal, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, and Yemen. The testimonies of the children interviewed
illustrate the profoundly detrimental impact of child marriage on their
physical and mental well-being, education, and children’s ability to live free
of violence. The consequences of child marriage do not end when child brides
reach adulthood, but often follow them throughout their lives as they struggle
with the health effects of getting pregnant too young and too often, their lack
of education and economic independence, domestic violence, and marital rape.
Child marriage almost inevitably disrupts girls’ education and exposes them to
domestic violence. Human Rights Watch spoke to Faiza Ahmed, a Bangladeshi girl
who did not know how old she was, but thought that she might be 15 or 16. Faiza
was forced to marry soon after she finished class five. After the marriage, she
could not satisfy her husband’s demands for money from her family (dowry
demands), and he beat her and eventually poured acid on her face, eyes, and
back.
Describing her horrific and violent marriage, Faiza said, “I was so sad and
crying at the time of my marriage. I could not even see the paper [marriage
contract]. All my tears were falling on it. I didn’t want to leave my dad and
be married. I also wanted to study…If I had studied, I would have been like you
[interviewer]. Could have been writing and reading…Within two-and-a-half months
of my marriage, my husband started to beat me…Then one night at around 11 [pm]
I was sleeping. My husband woke me up and asked me whether I wanted to go to
the bathroom. I said no and went back to sleep. After sometime he woke up and
said he wanted to go and wanted me to keep him company. When I went outside, he
flung something on my face…and it started burning. I started screaming and
running. He caught my hand and poured more of it on my back. I had long hair.
My hair used to be beautiful. Now it’s all burned. He burned my eyes. I cannot
see properly anymore.”
Girls who marry young are more susceptible to early
pregnancies and reproductive health complications associated with early
pregnancy. Human Rights Watch interviewed Najla at a reproductive health clinic
in Sanaa, Yemen. She did not know exactly how
old she was, but she said that she was married soon after completing her second
year in secondary school, which would have made her about 15 at the time of her
marriage. She has two children who were born before she was 18 years old. She
said:
I was pregnant with the second child when my firstborn was only five months
old. For five days, I bled severely and I thought it was just my period. My
mother-in-law knew what was happening to me, but she wouldn’t tell me anything.
They [my in-laws] wouldn’t let me go to the hospital and wouldn’t tell my
husband what was going on with me. When I became very dizzy, they finally took
me to the hospital, but at the hospital they didn’t stop the bleeding and
didn’t give me any treatment. I had to lie on my back for six months during my
[second] pregnancy and I needed 500 cc of blood. The doctor told me it’s
because I married early.
Poor State Response
Governments can mitigate some of the worst abuses linked to child marriage by
setting and enforcing age limits for marriage, establishing and enforcing
compulsory marriage registers, and prosecuting perpetrators of forced marriage.
Many, however, fail to do so.
In Afghanistan,
Human Rights Watch documented how young girls who tried to escape from forced
marriages or who ran away from abusive spouses and their families are arrested
and imprisoned. Bashira S., 14, told Human Rights Watch that she was 12 when
her father forced her to marry. She became pregnant soon after the marriage.
Bashira fled from her abusive husband, but instead of receiving government
protection, Bashira was accused and convicted of “running away,” and sentenced
to two years in juvenile detention. Human Rights Watch spoke to many other
girls in Afghanistan
who had fled forced and abusive marriages and who were treated as criminals by
the government.
Even where countries do attempt to discourage child marriage, they may fail to
protect the rights of girls. In India,
Human Rights Watch found that Indian policies designed to discourage child
marriages in practice discriminate against girl brides. In May 2012, Human
Rights Watch documenteda case where a woman who was forced by her family
to marry before she turned 18, was later disqualified from taking the Madhya
Pradesh state civil services examination on the ground that she had married as
a child.
The Janani SurakshaYojana (JSY) programme – sponsored by the Indian Central
government – provides conditional cash transfers to women giving birth in
health facilities and is linked to prenatal, in-hospital, and post-natal
services. In many states with better health indicators, girls below 19 who are
not from Scheduled Castes or Tribes, are excluded from availing of the scheme
and in many the Central government limits the benefits to two live births.
Similarly, The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahayog Yojana, which is the Central
government's cash assistance program to supplement pregnant and lactating
women's nutrition and double up as a maternity benefit, has identical
restrictions.
“Where governments fail to prevent child marriages, they should not punish
girls who marry before they turn 18,” said Gerntholtz. “Putting young girls in
prison, or adopting a policy of discrimination against young brides and
mothers, jeopardizes their life and health rather than protecting them.”
In order to effectively address the problem of child marriages, Human Rights
Watch recommends that states:
- Enact legislation that sets the minimum age for marriage at 18, and include requirements for the verification of the full and meaningful consent of both spouses.
- Take the necessary legislative and other measures to ensure that anyone who intentionally forces an adult or a child to enter into a marriage is appropriately penalized, and that marriages concluded under force may be voided, annulled, or dissolved without undue burden placed on the victim(s).
- Safeguard by law a victim’s right to seek financial compensation after voiding, annulling, divorcing, or otherwise dissolving the marriage and protect the rights of children born out of such a marriage.
- Provide training to law enforcement officials on gender discrimination and violence against women, including investigations into child marriages.
- Ensure that government or nongovernment efforts at discouraging child marriages do not directly or indirectly punish victims of child marriages by excluding them from health, education, employment or other services that protect, fulfill, and promote their human rights.
- Recognize marital rape as a criminal offense.
- Increase and improve access to reproductive healthcare for all girls and women in rural and urban areas by allocating greater resources from national health expenditure and more personnel.
- Ensure that access to emergency obstetric care, including monitoring of labor, trained birth attendants, newborn care, and contraception, is available to all girls and women in rural and urban areas.
- Raise awareness among health workers and the public on the importance of registering births, including home deliveries.
- Provide continuing formal education and vocational training opportunities for married girls and women.
“Child marriage is almost always also forced marriage. It
disrupts girls’ education and exposes them to domestic violence and preventable
health crises,” said Gerntholtz. “By working to tackle and end the marriage of
children, the UN and global governments will help protect the rights of women
and girls worldwide.”
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on women’s rights, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights