Child Marriages Paper Example

Mahato, Santosh. "Causes And Consequences Of Child Marriage: A Perspective." ResearchGate. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Dec. 2018.

The article provides an analysis of the various causes and consequences of child marriage. According to Mahato, child marriages refer to marriages which involve children under the age of 18 years being taken for marriage. The vice occurs worldwide but is more prevalent in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Mahato views the vice as a violation of human rights that directly and negatively affects girls in areas that relate to their education, psychological well-being, health as well as the health of their offspring. The article describes three main types of early or child marriage prevalent in Ethiopia. These include Promissory marriage which involves making of a verbal promise between parents of children of the opposite sex when they are still infants to have their children get married; Child marriage where children below the age of 10 are wedded; an Adolescent marriage which involves girls between the ages of 10 and 15 being given for marriage. In most cases, the children are married to older men, thereby resulting in a serious communication breakdown or problem that is an essential pillar for a happy and successful marriage.

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According to Mahato, there are three major driving forces of child marriage. These include the need to reinforce social ties, poverty and the belief that it provides protection. Moreover, parents have the role to ensure the financial security of their daughter as well as reduce the economic burden that comes along with their daughter's presence in the family. Girls are viewed in a pricey manner in terms of clothes, feed, and education and there exists no other output from them to the family once they have been taken for marriage. The process involves payment of dowry and therefore, the younger the girl, the higher the dowry and the sooner the economic burden of raising the girl it took away.

Parents also feel proud in the society when their daughter is married to a "good" family basing on their social status. The vice also puts into practice the common belief among parents that marrying their daughter young helps to protect them from rape, unintended pregnancies, pre-marital sexual activities, sexually transmitted infections such as HIV and AIDS among others. According to the article, the major causes of the high incidences of child marriage include poverty, protection, ensuring chastity and virginity of the bride, reducing the related costs of paying dowry due to the low levels of education of the bride and relief of the associated economic burden to the girl's parents. Mahato argues that child marriage is more prevalent in rural communities with poor, illiterate migrants that have high unemployment rates and high population of girls. In areas such as Nepalese society, the causes of the vice include less access to social media, lack of awareness, fear of unmarried, investment on girls being viewed as a waste of resources and little knowledge on the level of government policies regarding child marriage.

There are various consequences of child marriage that discussed in the article. These include isolation, sexually transmitted infections from their husbands, cervical cancer, infant and maternal mortality among others. According to Mahato, the girl children have to perform the roles of wives, domestic workers and as well as mothers to their children at an early age. The huge gap that exists between husband and wife results in differences in mutual understanding that results in the girls being rejected, depressed and isolated while they are still immature. This translates to higher frequencies of child and maternal deaths. The high death rates are attributed to postpartum haemorrhage, eclampsia, HIV infection, sepsis, malaria and obstructed labour since girls under 18 years have small pelvises that are not ready for child bearing. Mahato points out in his article the negative effects on child marriage on both the child and the society at large. He adds that in addition to the above listed effects, the vice has a strong physical, psychological, intellectual and emotional impact and cuts off educational opportunities and chances of personal growth for both boys and girls.

Finally, the article addresses the solutions put forth by the Indian government to address the issue of child marriage. The solutions highlighted include:

• Conditional cash transfer scheme that would encourage retention of the girl child in school and learning institutions.
• Establishing an Integrated Child Protection Scheme.
• Coming up with programs that enhance the development of the girl child and promotes girls' education.
• Improving the nutritional and health requirements of adolescent girls between the ages of 11 and 18 years.
• Establishing schemes for empowering adolescent girls and providing education that enhances equality among women.
• Establishing a national program that offers education to girls at elementary level while setting up residential schools at upper primary levels for girls that belong to backward castes, scheduled tribes and other minorities in difficult areas.
• Coming up with child marriage protest programs that provide a nationwide awareness of child marriage.
• Establishment of incentive programs against the vice such as- My Daughter, My Pride Capacity- that enhances the efforts that target stakeholders who are responsible for effecting the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Therefore, to minimize the incidence of the vice, the Indian government has already begun special programs that provide girl's education, conditional cash transfer skill schemes, child protection programs, child marriage protest programs and incentive programs that enhance capacity building of stakeholders and media mobilizers. According to Mahato, the incidence of child marriage is real, serious and raises pertinent issues with regards to child protection since is still takes place in the 21st Century. It's, therefore, time to start the campaign against child marriage with strong implementation of laws and a joint effort form academia, media, civil society, and the government.

Malhotra, Anju et al. Solutions To End Child Marriage. 5th ed. International Center for Research on Women: What the Evidence Shows, 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2018.

The article addresses child labour as a problem that affects both national and international communities. According to Malhotra et al, child marriage is a serious problem that is not only a violation of a girl's human rights but also provides a hindrance to key developmental outcomes. The article provides a summary and a systematic review of child marriage and its associated prevention programs. Malhotra et al. view child marriage as a violation of fundamental human rights. It disproportionately affects young girls who have a higher likelihood of being married than boys. International estimates conducted in 2007 indicate that more than 60 million women aged between 20 and 24 years were married before they reached 18 years of age. The highest rates of the vice are found in West Africa, South Africa, North Africa/Middle East, and Latin America in a reducing pattern respectively. A UNICEF data in the article from two surveys in 34 out of 55 countries shows that there has been no significant change in the percentage of women aged 20-24 who were married before 18 years.

The consequences of child marriage to its victims can be devastating. According to Malhotra, early marriages result in early child bearing which consequently results in higher maternal morbidity and mortality rates as well as infant mortality rates. It also negatively affects the girl's education since girls with low education levels are more likely to be married early, thereby putting an end to their education. This constrains her ability to overcome poverty for herself and family. The girls are young and are married to older men with more sexual experience, thereby increasing their risk of HIV infection and violence at home. The lack of education, physical safety and autonomy denies girls off their basic human rights and also slows social and economic development. The national and international indicators of maternal health, education, food security, HIV/AIDS, poverty eradication and gender equality are all linked to child marriages in a negative manner. The vice makes it cumbersome to achieve each of the eight millennium development goals and the global targets that aim at reducing poverty (Malhotra).

The article goes further to highlight efforts put forth to address child marriage in various parts of the world. It explains various program strategies established to control the vice. These include:

• Empowering girls with information, skills and support networks.

This program focuses on girls and focuses on training, sharing information, building their skill set, developing support networks and establishing safe spaces for the girl child. It aims at equipping young girls to better know themselves and understand their environment as well as end their social and economic isolation. This would enable them to act and advocate for themselves both in the short-and long-term. Empowering girls will provide them with more social capital and aspire to take jobs as alternatives to marriage. The program would incorporate life skills training that teaches girls about nutrition, health, money, finance, communication, decision-making, negotiation, legal awareness, mentoring programs, and sexual and reproductive health training.

• Education and mobilization of parents and community members.

Engaging parents and the community is another most frequent and used strategies. The strategy helps to establish an enabling environment that leads to the understanding that the decision to marry girls at an early stage is generally in the hands of the family and community leaders. Moreover, the stigma that accompanies the failure to meet the societal expectations is administered by the broader community. Therefore, parental education and mobilization of the community attempt to change the societal norms and forge towards a more supportive and less penal environment for the girl child and their families. The programs under this strategy include one-on-one meetings with parents and community and religious leaders, group community education processes, parental and adult committees and forums and public announcements and pledges by family heads and community members.

• Enhancing accessibility and quality of formal schooling for girls.

According to Malhotra, there exists a strong correlation between girls' education and delayed marriage i.e. girls with a secondary school level are six times less likely to marry as children compared to girls with little or no education. Schooling protects against child marriage by enabling the girl child to be seen as a child and therefore not marriageable and providing a safe space for the girls. School attendance also helps to shift norms that promote early marriage. It enables the girls to establish social networks and enhance their skills and knowledge that help them to negotiate their interests with regards to child marriage. the strategy involves employing programs that aim at building schools, improving the girls' facilities, training and supporting enrolment and re-enrolment in schools and providing cash, scholarships, fee subsidies and incentives for girls to enrol and enable them remain in school.

• The offering economic support and incentives for girls and their families.

According to Malhotra, poverty and the lack of appropriate income-generating options for young women and girls are vital factors that contribute to high child marriage rates. The programs address the economic factors that cause the families to marry their daughters at an early stage. The approach would provide immedi...