Does Child Marriage Prevail In Today's World

Child Marriage

Zainab ShabbirSaintmary

Student #: 130403382

University of London

May 15, 2017

Topic:To what extent does ‘child marriage’ prevail in today’s world?

Child marriage is based on the concept of a formal marriage but that of an underage person, before the age of 18, who is not yet of age to give consent. This is the reality of many children all over the world. UNICEF reports that more than 700 million women were actually married when they were underage, with some of themgetting married even before they had reached the age of 15 . Improvements are being made slowly throughout the world; however, this progress is still too slow. Such marriages serve to violate several basic child rights such as right to education, life,

These include the perception that girls are economic burden on their families, and hence the ‘burden’ is passed on to their future husbands. The idea of impurity is also attached to the sexuality of women; hence, to restrict any ‘improper’ sexual activities, young girls and boys are married at an early age. Dowry which is a menace, also adds to the major reasons that force poor families to do injustice with their daughters. This maybe because as girls grow older dowry issues also increase; hence, to avoid higher dowries parents marry their daughters earlier. For girls, educational opportunities are also limited or restricted; therefore, they become more vulnerable to many cruelties and forced marriages. The overall lack of education is also a huge factor in the increase of child marriage. Families stricken with poverty are more likely to give up their daughters to curb the additional cost. They facilitate domestic violence and sexual abuse in many case studies, which will be discussed below in more detail. Since child marriage exists throughout the world, this paper will serve to highlight case studies and state laws pertaining to child marriage from various parts of the world. Hence, we will take countries from Sub Saharan desert, South Asia and United Kingdom- specifically India, Britain, Bangladesh, Niger and

52% of the total female population is actually married before the age of 18 years, and 18% of the total female population is married before 15 years old . The government recently launched the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 which has the tendency to increase child marriages. It contains a loophole that allows child marriages to take place in certain ‘special cases’ . Since this term isn’t defined properly, it can be interpreted to allow child marriages subjectively. This negates the legal age of marriage in Bangladesh which is 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls . Bakul is one such girl who was pressured into marryingat 15 years of age, and had a child within a year . Her dreams of becoming a doctor were shattered while she envied girls of her age perusing their careers.

Parvin was another girl who was married at the young age of 11 years. Her family was struck by poverty and married their daughter for survival. They were having a hard time feeding her and taking care of her. Her sister Bilkis was also married at 13 years, to a much older man. She was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her in laws continuously