Human Rights and the Media - Child marriage a human rights violation, advocates say
Summary
- Shalini Nataraj, director of advocacy and partnerships for Global Fund for Women, saw 14-year-old Indian girl carrying her child
- Villagers said she was 18, as that is the legal age of marriage in India
- Girl came from a poor family with a half-dozen children; mother struggled to look after all of them
- The United Nations predicts that 14 million girls are married before the age of 18, India with more child marriages than anywhere else in the world
- Amnesty International campaign focuses on child marriage, demands that governments lay down sexual and reproductive rights to protect the health and safety of women and girls
- Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird funded $5 million to the UN to help combat child marriage
- According to UNICEF, in developing world countries, 1 in 4 girls between 15 and 19 is married
- UNICEF also states that in Gambia and Sierra Leone, half of married women are with men at least a decade older than they are; in Bangladesh, a third
- Child marriage is due to a combination of social, cultural, religious, and economic factors; can be due to tradition or due to poverty
- Child marriage affects both the young bride and her children; she will most likely never be able to get an education and escape poverty, she could be exposed to health risks from early birth, and she may be subjected to HIV or domestic abuse
- Report by Human Rights Watch outlined issues with child marriage in Malawi, calling on the government to set out adolescent reproductive health rights, to combat child marriage, and to provide shelters for abused women
Human Rights
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
This right has been violated by the act of child marriage. The child brides are not born free and equal; they are being forced to marry men that are much older than they are that could possibly partake in domestic abuse, and they are not protected by the law. As well, as they are forced into childbirth at such a young age, they are stripped of their freedom and their dignity.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
This right has been taken away from child brides in developing countries by child marriage. They are being oppressed due to their race and due to their sex. They did not choose to partake in child marriage, it is simply the custom of the country they were born in, and because they are female, they must start having children young. This inhibits them from experiencing a true childhood, as they are being forced to become adults much too early. This also inhibits them from getting the education they deserve, and from maintaining good reproductive health.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
This right has been violated by the developing countries that support child marriage. The bride often enters the marriage unwillingly, and thus is not consenting to it. As well, the article states, "men and women of full age", which of course is being broken here. As well, their family is not protected as should be upheld by this right.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
This right has been violated by the act of child marriage. The child brides are not born free and equal; they are being forced to marry men that are much older than they are that could possibly partake in domestic abuse, and they are not protected by the law. As well, as they are forced into childbirth at such a young age, they are stripped of their freedom and their dignity.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
This right has been taken away from child brides in developing countries by child marriage. They are being oppressed due to their race and due to their sex. They did not choose to partake in child marriage, it is simply the custom of the country they were born in, and because they are female, they must start having children young. This inhibits them from experiencing a true childhood, as they are being forced to become adults much too early. This also inhibits them from getting the education they deserve, and from maintaining good reproductive health.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
This right has been violated by the developing countries that support child marriage. The bride often enters the marriage unwillingly, and thus is not consenting to it. As well, the article states, "men and women of full age", which of course is being broken here. As well, their family is not protected as should be upheld by this right.
Discussion Question
What do you think would happen if child marriage was eliminated completely in developing countries? Would there be negative consequences that come out of it?
Work Cited
"Child Marriage a Human Rights Violation." Thestar.com. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.