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Saturday, December 16, 2023

Stalled progress toward eliminating child marriage in India

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Friday, December 15, 6:30 PM ET

Key points:

Using national data between 1993 and 2021, researchers observed that India’s national prevalence of child marriage—defined by the study as marriage before age 18—declined throughout the study period.

The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw the largest magnitude of reduction in child marriage, while the years between 2016 and 2021 saw the smallest. During these latter years, six Indian states/union territories saw increases in the prevalence of girl child marriage and eight saw increases in boy child marriage.

The study is among the first to examine how the prevalence of child marriage has changed over time at a state/union territory level.

Boston, MA—Child marriage has declined in India—but across the country, one in five girls and nearly one in six boys are still married as children, and in recent years the practice has become more prevalent in some states/union territories, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Child marriage is a human rights violation and a recognized form of gender- and sexual-based violence. India’s success in reaching zero child marriage is critical to achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5.3.

The study will be published on December 15, 2023, in The Lancet Global Health.

“This study is among the first to estimate how rates of girl and boy child marriage have changed over time at a state/union territory level. Boy child marriage in particular is often overlooked; to date, there’s been almost no research estimating its prevalence,” said lead author S. V. Subramanian, professor of population health and geography. “Our findings offer a big step forward in understanding the burden of child marriage in India—one that will be critical to effective policymaking.”

Though India legally defines child marriage as marriage before age 18 for girls and before age 21 for boys, for the purposes of the study the researchers defined it as marriage before age 18 for both sexes. Using data from all five waves of India’s National Family Health Survey, from 1993, 1999, 2006, 2016, and 2021, they estimated the number of men and women ages 20-24 who met that definition across state/union territories.

The study found that between 1993 and 2021, child marriage declined nationally. The prevalence of girl child marriage decreased from 49% in 1993 to 22% in 2021, while boy child marriage decreased from 7% in 2006 to 2% in 2021. (Using the Indian legal definition of boy child marriage, the prevalence was much higher: 29% in 2006 and 15% in 2022.) However, progress towards stopping the practice of child marriage has stalled in recent years: The largest reductions in child marriage prevalence occurred between 2006 and 2016, with the lowest magnitude of reduction occurring between 2016 and 2021. In fact, during these later years, six states/union territories (including Manipur, Punjab, Tripura, and West Bengal) saw an increase in girl child marriage and eight (including Chhattisgarh, Goa, Manipur, and Punjab) saw an increase in boy child marriage.

By 2021, the researchers counted more than 13.4 million women and more than 1.4 million men ages 20-24 who were married as children. The results showed that one in five girls and nearly one in six boys are still married below India’s legal age of marriage.

“Child marriage is a human rights violation,” said first author Jewel Gausman, research associate in the Department of Global Health and Population. “It is both a cause and a consequence of social and economic vulnerability that leads to a range of poor health outcomes. The state/union territory stagnation in reaching zero child marriage that we observed is a significant concern—and is a call for India to reignite progress.”

Rockli Kim, visiting scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, was also a co-author.

Funding for the study came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-002992).

“Prevalence of Girl and Boy Child Marriage: A Repeated Cross-sectional Study Examining the Subnational Variation across States and Union Territories in India, 1993-2021,” Jewel Gausman, Rockli Kim, Akhil Kumar, Shamika Ravi, S.V. Subramanian, The Lancet Global Health, December 15, 2023, doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00470-9

Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.

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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health.

JOURNAL

The Lancet Global Health

DOI

10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00470-9

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Prevalence of Girl and Boy Child Marriage: A Repeated Cross-sectional Study Examining the Subnational Variation across States and Union Territories in India, 1993-2021

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Dec-2023

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Saturday, January 09, 2021

SHOCKING! BUT TRUE 😲

Child marriage is legal and persists across Canada

Over 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children under the age of 18 between 2000 and 2018

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: FIGURE: TRENDS IN THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN GRANTED MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES PER 10,000 16-17-YEAR-OLDS IN FIVE PROVINCES BETWEEN 2000 AND 2018 view more
CREDIT: ALISSA KOSKI AND SHELLEY CLARK

Canada is at the forefront of global efforts to end child marriage abroad. Yet this practice remains legal and persists across the country. In Canada, more than 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children, usually girls, under the age of 18 between 2000 and 2018, according to a new study from researchers at McGill University. In recent years, an increasing number of child marriages have been common-law unions.

Child marriage, defined as formal or informal (common-law) marriage before the age of 18, is a globally-recognized indicator of gender inequality because the negative consequences for health and personal development disproportionately affect girls. While much research has focused on developing countries, in wealthier nations like Canada, child marriage practices are overlooked and understudied.

Using data from vital statistics agencies and recent censuses, the researchers found that child marriage remains in practice from coast to coast, with the highest estimates of formal marriage found in Alberta (0.03%) and Manitoba (0.04%), and the highest estimates of any type of child marriage (formal or common-law) in Saskatchewan (0.5%) and the territories (1.7%). The study, published in Population and Development Review, is the first to shed light on how common child marriages are in the country.

"Our results show that Canada has its own work to do to achieve its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which call for an end to child marriage by the year 2030," says co-author Alissa Koski, Assistant Professor in Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University.

The researchers found that Canadian-born children are slightly more likely to marry than those born outside of the country. More than 85% of all marriage certificates granted to children were issued to girls, who typically wed much older spouses. This gendered patterning is consistent with child marriage practices observed across the globe, according to the researchers.

Common-law unions more prevalent

The study shows most child marriages in recent years have been common-law. In 2006, formal marriage accounted for more than half of all child unions. By 2016, formal marriage accounted for only 5 percent and common-law unions were twenty times as prevalent.

"While the number of marriage certificates issued to children across the country has declined, it's possible that individuals are opting for more informal unions in response to growing social disapproval of child marriage," say the authors. This makes it increasingly challenging to determine to what extent child marriage has actually decreased or whether concerns about social or legal consequences have led to changes in reporting behaviors.

Informal unions can be just as harmful as formal marriages, the researchers say. In fact, informal unions often provide less social, legal and economic protection. In Quebec, for example, individuals in common-law unions are not entitled to alimony or division of property if the union ends. This raises questions about how best to address the issue. Preventing common-law unions among children will require different and innovative approaches that address the deeper motivations for this practice.

"The persistence of this practice within Canada highlights some of the inherent challenges to fully eradicating child marriage and reveals an important inconsistency between Canada's domestic laws and its global policies" says co-author Shelley Clark, James McGill Professor of Sociology at McGill University. The next steps will be to examine the mental health consequences of child marriage in Canada and to investigate motivations for the practice.

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About the study

"Child Marriage in Canada" by Alissa Koski and Shelley Clark is published in Population and Development Review.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12369

Friday, May 05, 2023

Child marriage in decline – but will take 300 years to eliminate

13 U$ STATES ALLOW IT

Haroon Janjua in Islamabad
Thu, 4 May 2023

Photograph: Ami Vitale/Alamy

The number of child marriages is declining worldwide, but at too slow a pace for any hope of eliminating the practice this century, Unicef, the UN children’s agency, has said.

In a new report, Unicef tentatively welcomed the reduction but warned that it was nowhere close to meeting its sustainable development goal of ridding the world of the practice by 2030.

“The good news is that child marriage has been declining all over the world,” said Claudia Cappa, the lead author of the report. “In the last 10 years, the percentage of child marriages has dropped from 23% to 19% [of all marriages]. However, this isn’t fast enough to achieve the goal of eliminating child marriage by 2030, with more than 12 million girls under 18 still getting married every year. So, if things don’t change, we’ll need around 300 more years to eliminate child marriage completely.”

The UN estimates that 640 million girls and women who are alive today married before they were 18, and that 12 million girls become new child brides each year.

“Child marriage has different causes in different places, but there are often commonalities linked to poverty and limited opportunities for girls,” said Cappa. “Gender inequality, stereotypes, weak laws and the fear of pregnancy outside of marriage also contribute.”

The report warned that the climate crisis could leave families with few options but to marry off their children. “Health crises, conflict and natural disasters increase the risk to girls as they interrupt their education and add financial stress to households,” said Cappa. “Some families in these difficult situations falsely view [marriage] as a way to protect their girls financially, socially and physically. While we can’t always predict these crises, we can look back to understand how they might affect girls.

Related: Ethiopian drought leading to ‘dramatic’ increase in child marriage, Unicef warns

Declining rates of child marriage in south Asia, home to 45% of the world’s underage brides, underpinned the overall trend. India in particular is making progress in reducing child marriage. But in sub-Saharan Africa, one in three girls are marrying before the age of 18. Child marriage rates are highest in west and central Africa, home to seven out of the 10 countries with the highest prevalence globally.

“Despite some progress over 25 years, it only benefited the wealthiest, as child marriage increased among the poorest,” said Cappa. “[Sub-Saharan Africa] also faces a particular challenge: in addition to conflict, climate shocks and Covid, it’s seeing its population grow faster than anywhere else in the world, outpacing its progress to end child marriage.”

Child marriage and having sex too young causes myriad health problems and carries increased risks of death during childbirth and serious complications in pregnancy.

“But we know progress is possible in Africa, and the report lists Rwanda and Ethiopia as examples. Ending child marriage is possible with income and economic interventions,” said Cappa.

Sunday, July 07, 2024

Activists hail Sierra Leone child marriage ban, urge action on female genital mutilation

AMERIKA STILL ALLOWS

CHILD (RAPE) MARRIAGE

Agence France-Presse
July 7, 2024

(AFP)

Sierra Leone this week adopted a landmark law banning child marriage — a move heralded by rights groups and foreign partners but leaving some activists demanding more action to end pervasive female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country.

Hundreds of thousands of girls are married before turning 18 in the West African nation, where a persistently patriarchal society puts women at risk of multiple forms of gender-based violence.

Sierra Leone has some of the highest rates of child marriage, teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality in the world.

In a major step forward, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act criminalises marrying girls below 18 with jail terms of at least 15 years or a fine of more than $2,000.

It also bans men from living with underage girls and sets out a compensation package for those who are married or fall pregnant before turning 18.

But the law — championed by Sierra Leone’s First Lady Fatima Maada Bio — remains silent on the harmful practice of FGM, which many see as deeply intertwined with the marrying of young girls.

“We’re saying (the law) is good work, but… you cannot be blinded to the fact that there is a practice that still perpetuates child marriage,” said Josephine Kamara, 31, advocacy director at women and girls’ activism organisation Purposeful.

“If you refuse to solve it, and if you’re silenced about it, then any action to end child marriage might just be lip service,” she told AFP in a phone interview.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs, and can lead to serious health problems including infections, bleeding, infertility and complications in childbirth.

In Sierra Leone, 83 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 have undergone the practice, according to a 2019 Demographic Health Survey.

“The cutting of the clitoris symbolises that girls have now gone through a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood,” Kamara said.

“That rite of passage says even if you’re seven years old, if you’ve gone through that process, you’re now seen as a woman”.

‘Marketplace for marriage’

While activists largely praised the child marriage ban, the lack of impetus behind ending FGM left some worried about mixed messaging from the government.

“It’s very confusing,” said Alimatu Dimonekene, 54, an FGM survivor and campaigner, who explained the two practices often went hand in hand.

“The reason in Sierra Leone girls are cut so early is because (the families) want them to get married,” she told AFP.

“Sometimes the families say, ‘Oh we found her a suitor or the suitor is paying for us to do the FGM’.

“Usually… that child is married off the next day to whoever, because it’s the same traditional leaders.”

Kamara also expressed concern about the implementation of the child marriage ban, particularly in rural areas, if communities were still able to carry out FGM.

“It’s really conflicting information we’re sending,” she said.

“We’re saying no more marriage, but then we’re leaving the institution that is a marketplace for marriage.”

Bans on both FGM and child marriage had already been included in a sweeping Child Rights Act, but the legislation has been stalled in parliament.

The activists AFP spoke to said they felt the child marriage issue had been cherry picked from the bill by legislators to avoid addressing FGM.

“We know why they’re refusing to talk about it, (FGM) marks itself in culture: ‘this is our culture, this is our practice’,” said Kamara.

“But ain’t nothing cultural about cutting clitorises, it’s a human rights violation,” she added.

The fear of criticising such a pervasive practice is what silences many legislators, said Rugiatu Turay, 50, the founder of anti-FGM organisation Amazonian Initiative Movement.

Turay herself underwent FGM at the age of 11, suffered severe bleeding and lost a cousin to the practice.

“Ending child marriage alone will not stop, will not reduce the practice of FGM,” she said.

“(Legislators) need to look at a holistic approach at ending the suffering of children, not separating one issue from the other.”

Monday, February 27, 2023

Legal age rises to 18 in England and Wales to crack down on forced marriage

It is now an offence to cause a child under the age of 18 to enter a marriage in any circumstances in England and Wales

By: Chandrashekar Bhat

A NEW law raising the legal age for marriage in England and Wales to 18 years came into force on Monday (27), aimed at protecting vulnerable young people from being forced into weddings against their will.

Until now, those aged 16 or 17 could get married with parental consent as there was no law against ceremonies for younger children not registered as vulnerable with their local councils.

“This law will better protect vulnerable young people, by cracking down on forced marriage in our society,” said deputy prime minister and justice secretary, Dominic Raab.

“Those who act to manipulate children into marrying under-age will now rightly face the full force of the law.”

Those found guilty of arranging child marriages face sentences of up to seven years in prison. So called “traditional” and non-legally binding ceremonies – viewed as marriages by the parties and their families conducted within some minority communities – will also be covered under the new legislation.

Ministers said the age of 18 is widely recognised as the age at which one becomes an adult and gains full citizenship rights.

Forced marriage was previously an offence only if the person used a type of coercion, for example threats, to cause someone to marry.

It is now an offence to cause a child under the age of 18 to enter a marriage in any circumstances, without the need to prove that a form of coercion was used.

British Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab (REUTERS/Toby Melville//File Photo)

Charities campaigning against forced marriages welcomed the new law.

“The change to legislation on child marriage is a huge victory for survivors. It is a huge leap forward to tackling this usually hidden abuse and will provide a greater degree of protection to those at risk,” said Natasha Rattu, director of the Karma Nirvana charity, which supports forced marriage victims.

“Last year, the national Honour Based Abuse helpline supported 64 cases of child marriage, representing only a small picture of a much bigger problem. We hope the new law will help to increase identification and reporting, affording greater protection to children at risk,” she added.

Child marriage is often associated with domestic abuse towards girls, who may leave education early, have limited career opportunities and suffer from physical and mental health problems.

The government said the legal change honours its commitment to the pledge made to the United Nations to end child marriage by 2030.

The new Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which gained Royal Assent in April last year and comes into force this week, was the result of a Private Member’s Bill brought to Parliament by Conservative Party MP Pauline Latham.

It was supported by campaign organisations within the Girls Not Brides Coalition, which work to end child marriage and so-called honour-based abuse.

“This is a landmark day for the campaigners who have worked relentlessly for over five years to ban child marriage in this country. Child marriage destroys lives and through this legislation we will protect millions of boys and girls over the coming years from this scourge,” said Latham.

Minister for safeguarding, Sarah Dines, added: “Forced marriage is an abuse of human rights, which denies vulnerable children the freedom to learn, grow and thrive. Like all other forms of abuse, I’m committed to stamping out this exploitative practice.

“In addition, we are continuing to provide training and guidance to equip the police, social workers and other frontline professionals to support and safeguard victims.”

According to official data from 2021, the government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provided advice or support in 118 cases involving victims below 18 years of age.

The courts have also issued 3,343 Forced Marriage Protection Orders between their introduction in 2008 and September 2022, which prevent someone from using threats, violence or emotional abuse as a way to force a person into marriage.

The new Act does not change the age of marriage in Scotland or Northern Ireland as marriage is a devolved matter.

It is hoped that raising the legal age to 18 in England and Wales may eventually be replicated in other parts of the UK.

(PTI)

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Child marriage is an ugly reality in California. Why are Democrats defending it? | Opinion

Kevin Bolling
Wed, June 12, 2024

This year, California had another opportunity to ban child marriage in the state, but a division inside the Democratic Party is dashing those hopes in a disturbing display of indifference.

In February, Asm. Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, introduced Assembly Bill 2924 to finally end the gruesome act of state-sanctioned child marriage in California. Last month, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Ash Kalra, D- San Jose, demanded amendments that would have gutted the bill before the legislation received a hearing. In effect, the Democratic chairman killed the bill before it ever went to a vote.

California is one of just four states in the nation with no minimum age for marriage. Minors of any age can be married if a judge and, in most cases, a parent or guardian approve. In 2021 alone, California witnessed an estimated 8,789 minors, ages 15 to 17, entering into marriage, as reported by the American Community Survey.

The practice, typically involving girls wed to much older men, is often exploited by fundamentalist religious and culturally conservative communities and lacks full, free consent.

Opinion

AB 2924 would set a minimum age of 18 to marry, with no exceptions. The bill has more than 30 bipartisan legislative co-authors and support from the Legislative Women’s Caucus, dozens of California and national organizations and child marriage survivors.

The same month the bill stalled in the legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom was chastising Missouri State Senator Mike Moon in a tweet for “advocating for 12-year-old kids to be married off to adults.” Why isn’t Newsom championing the end of child marriage in California? Why does this state allow a 15-year-old girl to be married off by her father without her mother’s knowledge?

Kalra and a few other Democrats appear to have caved to pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of California and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. These two California groups support child marriage, unlike their counterparts in almost every other U.S. state that has supported minimum marriage ages or stayed neutral.

The ACLU claims banning child marriage would be “denying these young people the right to marry.” But children, as minors, do not have that right. Under the current law, a judge and a parent may enter a child into marriage, with no real recourse for a minor who does not want to marry. Child marriage is not a right. It is a human rights abuse. The United Nations seeks to ban the practice worldwide by 2030.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California cited fears of impinging on minors’ reproductive rights. However, California’s legal system, which upholds minors’ rights to access abortion and contraception without parental consent, already delineates these boundaries. In 2022, California voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that specifically protects access to abortion and contraception. Moreover, the global stance of the International Planned Parenthood Federation advocates to end child marriage, calling it “one of the most persistent forms of sanctioned sexual abuse of girls.”

The current legal framework in California runs the risk of forced child marriages due to substantial loopholes in the law. California must seize this opportunity to reform its policy resulting in a spectrum of risks, including forced sexual relations, unwanted pregnancies and psychological trauma.

Passing AB 2924 is a critical step toward protecting the state’s youth and ensuring their rights to autonomy, safety, and health. The governor and leadership in the Legislature should get behind this bill and file a rule waiver to put it up for a vote. This is not just a legal or political issue but a clear-cut case of protecting the vulnerable.

Kevin Bolling is executive director of California’s Secular Student Alliance.

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Why Are Some Republican Lawmakers Hellbent on Preserving Child Marriage?

Tessa Stuart
Sat, May 11, 2024

Holly Thompson Rehder was a sophomore when she dropped out of high school and married her 21-year-old boyfriend. Today, she’s a GOP state senator and the sponsor of a bill that would ban child marriage in Missouri — a bill that she has been surprised to see blocked by her Republican colleagues who argue there is nothing wrong with the practice.

“I know firsthand. I was married at 15. My sister was married at 16. My cousin was married at 16,” Rehder says. “I understand how a teenage girl being married off is harmful to her life, and sometimes that’s hard for others who haven’t seen that, up close and personal, to understand.”

Marriage is currently legal in Missouri at age of 16 with at least one parent’s consent. That’s a relatively recent development: Missouri lawmakers only banned marrying children who were 14 years old or younger in 2018. Fifty lawmakers — 38 Republicans and two Democrats — voted against that bill at the time. Before the 2018 legislation passed, Missouri had one of the laxest child marriage restrictions in the country, which, some argued, made the state a refuge for sex trafficking.

Rehder, along with state Sen. Lauren Arthur (D), introduced a bill that would outlaw marriage for anyone under the age of 18. The bill, which passed the GOP-controlled Senate 31-1 earlier this year, has stalled in House — the Government Efficiency and Downsizing committee, specifically — where half of the committee’s 14 members have opposed it.

Among the bill’s opponents is Rep. Hardy Billington (R), who told the Kansas City Star he believes that ending child marriage in Missouri would encourage abortion. “My opinion is that if someone [wants to] get married at 17, and they’re going to have a baby, and they cannot get married, then… chances of abortion are extremely high,” Billington said. (Missouri bans abortion at any stage, except when the life of the pregnant person is at stake.)

This argument — that child marriage must be preserved to prevent abortion — seems to be gaining currency with Republicans across the country as they consider laws to raise the marriage age.

The United States does not have a federal law setting the age of marriage. The marriage age is set by states, and only 12 of them have banned child marriage. (Those states: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.)

A 2021 study by the advocacy group Unchained at Last found that 300,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2018 in the United States. According to the group, 60,000 of those marriages involved an age difference that would have otherwise been considered a sex crime.

The vast majority of these minors were 16 or 17 years old, and most were girls wed to adult men who were four years older than they were, on average. There were five documented instances of children as young as 10 married in the U.S. in the period studied.

Several states legislatures have recently considered bills that would raise the marriage age recently — but they have run into opposition from Republican men who often cite abortion as the reason.

On the New Hampshire House floor last week, state Rep. Jess Edwards (R) argued against raising the marriage age from 16 to 18, by asking whether a law preventing people “of ripe, fertile age” from getting married would thus make “abortion a much more desirable alternative” than being pregnant out of wedlock. The bill, which had already passed the state Senate unanimously, narrowly made it through the House, with 192 votes in favor and 174 against. It now awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

Last year in West Virginia, a bill that would have raised the minimum age to obtain a marriage license passed the House of Delegates with overwhelming support, was defeated in the Senate Judiciary committee. Among the bill’s opponents was Republican state Sen. Mike Stuart, who shared that his mother married at age 16, and gave birth to him six months later. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” he said. The proposal, which raised the marriage age to 16 with parental consent, was ultimately resurrected and signed into law.

In Wyoming last year, when state lawmakers were considering a bill to raise the minimum marriage age to 16, the Republican Party sent out an email citing talking points from the religious group Capitol Watch for Wyoming Families that asserted: “Since young men and women may be physically capable of begetting and bearing children prior to the age of 16, marriage MUST remain open to them for the sake of those children.” (The bill ultimately passed.)

Missouri’s Rehder, who became pregnant shortly after she was married at 15, doesn’t accept this argument. “I think there is no correlation” between child marriage and abortion, she says. “As a woman who was married at 15, who was pregnant at 15, you’re either pro-life or pro-choice. Your marriage status doesn’t have anything to do with either being pro-life or pro-choice.”

Another thing Rehder won’t accept? The possibility of her legislation dying in committee. While the bill that would raise the marriage age to 18 remains stalled with one week left in the legislative session, Rehder — who is currently running for lieutenant governor — has a plan to see it voted on next week.

“I’m tenacious, and I don’t give up until the last bell rings,” Rehder says. “I’ve got a bill that I’ve been working on [about] sex trafficking and foster children benefits. I’ve got it moving in the House, and I’m working to try to get this language for the marriage age added [as an amendment] to it.”

Rehder expects that bill, which has already passed out of committee, to come to the House floor on Monday, where she believes it might succeed. Proposing it as an amendment on the floor, she says, “will give us a larger pool of votes to pull from, and more women voting on it,” she says. “My hope is that we can still make this happen.”

Friday, May 03, 2024

Fistula and child marriages: The two epidemics plaguing Pak women in Gilgit-Baltistan

Seema's battle with fistula unveils the tragedy of early marriage, urging society to confront the intertwined dangers of child marriage and women's health crises.

Shereen Karim

Published May 3, 2024

Seema, a resident of Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan, received the title, ‘Woman of the Year’, not for her achievements, but for a fate imposed upon her at a tender age: child marriage. One can’t help but wonder how entering into a marriage contract at a tender age warrants this title.

Visibly upset, Seema recounted her story, explaining why she received the honour. Married at the tender age of 13 and diagnosed with vaginal fistula when she was 16 years old, Seema’s existence has since become synonymous with agony.

Every villager, out of pity for her deteriorating health, would visit her, oblivious to the struggle she bore in silence. With no funds for treatment, her father-in-law had even asked the doctor to give her poison — a desperate plea for relief.

Before delving further into Seema’s story, it is important to understand what vaginal fistula is.

The condition occurs when an abnormal passage is created between the vagina and neighbouring pelvic organs like the bladder or rectum. This can lead to numerous complications, including urinary and faecal leakage, abnormal vaginal discharge, tissue damage, kidney infections, and various other symptoms. Doctors warn that untreated fistulas can escalate to reproductive system cancers, potentially even leading to death.

Seema described the pain to be so agonising that she wished for a quick death on several occasions. It’s a stark contrast to the dreams that typically fill the heart of a 16-year-old girl — dreams of a future adorned with aspirations and possibilities. However, Seema found herself teetering on the precipice of despair, grappling with the grim reality of her life-long disease.

It only makes sense for her to be called the ‘Woman of the Year,’ doesn’t it? Her journey isn’t merely reflective of the far-reaching consequences of fistula but is also a testament to the devastating consequences of child marriage.

Perils of child marriage

According to a Unicef report an estimated 18 per cent of young girls are wed before reaching adulthood [18 years of age], amounting to almost 19 million child brides in the country. The number of unreported instances is believed to be even higher.

As per the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), Pakistan has the sixth highest number of women married before the age of 18 in the world.

The adverse impacts of early marriage are manifold, encompassing the deteriorating health of the young bride, high-risk pregnancy, and impediments to both her education and personal growth. Moreover, in developing countries such as Pakistan, the unregulated cycle of childbirth places a heavy financial strain on parents, as they struggle to support multiple children, ultimately perpetuating poverty within these families.

Despite tireless global campaigns and legal enforcement in these countries, the insidious practice of child marriage persists. This prevalence is fuelled by a glaring lack of awareness regarding the severe repercussions of such unions, amplifying the issue.

The plight of girls under 18 is particularly dire, as depicted in Seema’s case. Her story serves as a stark reminder of the health complications faced by these young brides face. From debilitating conditions like fistula to a myriad of other ailments, many women are condemned to a lifetime of anguish. While some manage to recover through treatment, others suffer without ever experiencing improvement in their health.

What medical experts say

Dr Sajjad Ahmed, who offers free treatment to patients at Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi, said that a significant number of women travel long distances from remote areas to seek treatment at the hospital located in the port city’s Bin Qasim Town. This reality underscores the inadequacy of basic facilities accessible to women in Pakistan.

At the other end of the country, Dr Sher Shah and his dedicated team annually organise medical camps in Gilgit, offering treatment and performing surgeries for fistula patients free of cost. While minor cases receive care at City Hospital Gilgit, those requiring more intensive procedures are referred to Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi.

Dr Sher Shah mentioned how the hospital serves patients not only from across the country but also extends care to individuals from Afghanistan, Iran, Sharjah, and Yemen. Drawing patients from the farthest corners of Sindh, Punjab, Chitral, and Gilgit-Baltistan, including the remote locales of Skardu, Diamir, and Ghizar, individuals recover under their expertise. The hospital has provided free surgeries to almost 40 patients from Gilgit-Baltistan alone.

Despite the invaluable services rendered, the absence of more specialised hospitals for the condition remains a gap in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, he added.

Dr Nazneen Zamir Farooqi, a gynaecologist at City Hospital Gilgit, gets patients from remote areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, including Diamer, Astor, Skardu, Kharmang, Darel, and Ghizar. In many of these regions, the scarcity of healthcare facilities and the absence of skilled attendants during childbirth worsen the problem.

“The pervasive practice of child marriage significantly contributes to this crisis. When young girls are married off, their bodies are ill-equipped for childbirth — a biological reality — as physical maturity is typically achieved post-puberty,” she explained. Consequently, girls under 18 years face heightened risks of complications, and if they contract fistula, their suffering is only magnified.

The impact on women

Throughout pregnancy and childbirth, the absence of adequate treatment can result in a spectrum of deformities in women’s bodies, often leading to the onset of debilitating diseases. Among these, fistula stands out as one of the most distressing, inflicting not only physical discomfort but also profound psychological and social ramifications.

Girls married off at a young age have underdeveloped bodies and fragile bones. If they undergo childbirth before their bodies have fully matured, they are at risk of developing fistula. Similarly, older women who have borne numerous children may experience weakened muscles, rendering them incapable of delivering the baby during childbirth. In some cases, it may also lead them to develop this condition.

In both scenarios, giving birth to a child becomes an excruciating process for the woman, wherein the pressure exerted by the baby’s head against the muscles between the bladder and the vagina may result in the formation of a fistula. In many cases, the babies are stillborn. Without immediate medical intervention, the affected woman is condemned to endure the pain.

What does the Child Marriage Act say?

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, a federal law in Pakistan in alignment with international conventions on children’s rights, unequivocally condemns a marriage involving a girl under 16 years of age and a boy under 18 years of age as a violation of fundamental rights. Although each province in Pakistan has established its own regulations, in the absence of specific provincial guidelines, national law takes precedence.

Any breach of this law carries severe penalties, including imprisonment for up to six months and fines reaching up to Rs50,000, meant to serve as a deterrent against such grave infringements.

As per the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2016-17, the prevalence of child marriages in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially in areas such as Chilas, Darel, Tangir, and Kharmang, stands alarmingly high, soaring to approximately 26pc. Despite concerted efforts to tackle the issue, including the introduction of legislation in 2015, progress has been hindered by opposition within the legislative assembly, leading to delays in its enactment.

While the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 is in place, its enforcement in these regions falls well short of the mark. And without a legal mandate imposing age restrictions, many see no obligation to adhere to the law. Subsequently, the absence of robust legislation and effective enforcement mechanisms perpetuates the cycle of child marriages, leaving the issue entirely unresolved.

It’s time to break the cycle

Child marriage is not merely a tradition; it has a direct bearing on human health and development. While marriage may bring a sense of satisfaction for many, it also entails significant responsibilities, demanding mental, physical, and financial preparedness. Experts argue that minors lack the maturity essential for a thriving marriage, posing potential health risks.

We cannot afford the luxury of complacency while the innocence of our children is sacrificed at the altar of an archaic practice. It falls upon each of us, as guardians of our collective conscience, to demand comprehensive legislation that will dismantle the structures perpetuating child marriages.

For the sake of our daughters and sons, for the preservation of their health, dignity, and dreams, we must act decisively. The time for rhetoric has passed; it is now time for action.

Header image — taken from Reuters

Shereen Karim is a freelance journalist from Gilgit-Baltistan. She has worked with local and international media platforms.

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

CHILD BRIDES OK IN U$A
Idaho Supreme Court won't weigh legality of child marriage

Erin Carver stands outside her attorney's office in Boise, Idaho, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. A legal loophole that allows parents of teens to nullify child custody agreements by arranging child marriages will remain in effect under a ruling from the Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The case arose from a custody battle between Carver and her ex-husband, William Hornish, who planned to move to Florida and wanted to take their 16-year-old daughter along. Hornish was accused of setting up a “sham marriage” between his daughter and another teen as a way to end the custody fight.

AP Photo/Rebecca Boone

REBECCA BOONE
Tue, October 18, 2022

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A legal loophole in Idaho that allows parents of teens to nullify child custody agreements by arranging child marriages will remain in effect, under a ruling from the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a split decision, the high court declined to decide whether Idaho's child marriage law — which allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry if one parent agrees to the union — is unconstitutional. Instead, the justices said that once a child is emancipated by marriage, the family court loses jurisdiction over custody matters.

The case arose from a custody battle between a Boise woman and her ex-husband, who planned to move to Florida and wanted to take their 16-year-old daughter along. The ex-husband was accused of setting up a “sham marriage” between his daughter and another teen as a way to end the custody fight.

It's not a rare scenario — all but seven states allow minors below the age of 18 to marry, according to Unchained At Last, an organization that opposes child marriage. Nevada, Idaho, Arkansas and Kentucky have the highest rates of child marriage per capita, according to the organization. Although minors are generally considered legally emancipated once they are married, they generally still have limited legal rights and so may be unable to file for divorce or seek a protective order.

Erin Carver and William Hornish divorced in 2012, and only their youngest was still living at home last year when both sides began disputing the custody arrangements.

Carver said she learned Hornish was planning a “sham marriage” for the teen to end the custody battle, and asked the family court magistrate to stop the marriage plans. Several days later, the magistrate judge agreed, but it was too late. The teen had already married.

The high court heard arguments in March, and Carver's attorney contended that the child marriage law is unconstitutional because it allows one parent to terminate another parent's rights without due process. Hornish's attorney, Geoffrey Goss, countered that his client had acted legally and followed state law.

In Tuesday's ruling, a majority of the Supreme Court justices said that because the marriage had occurred before an initial ruling was made, the family court lost jurisdiction. Once a child is married, they are emancipated and no longer subject to child custody arrangements, the high court said.

The justices also declined to weigh whether the law is legal under the state constitution, saying in part that neither side provided enough legal arguments on the matter. The high court did find, however, that the law was not clearly unconstitutional.

Justices Gregory Moeller and John Stegner dissented from the majority opinion, finding that the lower court could have done more to “address the outrageous actions of a father,” by making the initial order retroactive. That would have allowed Carver to seek an annulment of the marriage as the custodial parent.

“Father has not only made a mockery of our marriage laws, he has also exposed his 16-year-old Daughter to the potential life altering consequences of an ill-conceived and hasty marriage of convenience,” Moeller wrote in the dissent.

The Associated Press could not find contact information for Hornish, and his attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Carver nor her attorney immediately responded to a request for comment.

Other Idaho families have been watching the case closely.

Ryan Small, a Boise man who has been embroiled in a similar custody battle, said he was disappointed by the ruling. Small was trying to keep his ex-wife from moving out of state with their son last winter when he learned the 16-year-old boy had been secretly married off to another teen with his mother's permission.

Small hasn't seen the teen since Nov. 15, 2021, and because the boy is considered self-emancipated, Small has little ability to track him down or bring him back to Idaho.

“I am disappointed that the Supreme Court decided to punt the issue of the constitutionality of the law,” Small said on Tuesday. “The role of a parent is to protect their child, and the court not taking up the constitutionality of the law will allow abusive parents to use their children as pawns to sidestep the protection of the court.”

Saturday, February 11, 2023

IT'S POLITICAL USE OF A SOCIAL CRIME
In Assam, crackdown on child marriages leaves trail of broken families

Relatives gather near the Mayong police station in India's Assam state as people allegedly involved in child marriages are being taken to a court on Feb 4. PHOTO: AFP

Debarshi Dasgupta and Nirmala Ganapathy

NEW DELHI – Jahanara Khatun is someone authorities claim to have rescued from the clutches of child marriage in the north-eastern state of Assam. But it was a knock on her door at around 11pm on Feb 5 from the police, who came to act seemingly on her behalf, that turned her “peaceful” life upside down.

Back in 2018, she was 17 years 3 months old when she fell in love with Mohammed Akhirul Hoque and chose to marry him. She gradually settled into married life, giving birth to a daughter in 2021.

Yet, for the authorities, she is a victim. India’s legislation against child marriage mandates a girl must be more than 18, and a boy 21, before marriage. The police therefore came to arrest her husband and father-in-law at their house in Bausatari, a village in Assam’s Goalpara district.

The swoop was part of a controversial statewide crackdown that began in the last week of January against child marriage, a social ill still prevalent in many parts of India across different communities due to patriarchy, lack of education and poverty.

With around 2,800 arrests, authorities have been compelled to convert a stadium and a detention centre for foreigners into temporary jails, even as they face criticism over retrospective punitive arrests that have split families from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, put their main breadwinners into jails and thrown their future into disarray.

Mr Hoque, who was a little more than 18 at the time of his marriage, had fallen foul of The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. It bans a man above 18 from marrying a girl child.

The police did not find Mr Hoque, who works some 2,795km away in the southern city of Bangalore, but arrested his father Mohammed Amejuddin, 65, for allowing the marriage to go ahead. Ms Khatun’s father Mohammed Jahanuddin, 40, was also taken into custody from his house.

This intervention, however, has left Ms Khatun more worried than ever. She has no news about her husband, who has been untraceable, even switching off his phone to evade arrest. She and her daughter are, meanwhile, dependent on her brothers-in-law for support.

The state has said it is working on a rehabilitation policy for victims of child marriage but that is little consolation. “I had a peaceful life but the government has completely messed it up,” Ms Khatun told The Straits Times on the phone. “I want my father and father-in-law to be released and my husband to return safely,” she added.

It was on Jan 23 that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, announced a crackdown on child marriages, referring to worrying data from a government survey released last year. The percentage of women aged 15-19 who were mothers or pregnant in Assam was 11.7, compared to 6.8 for the country’s average.

Around 31.8 per cent of women aged 20-24 in the state were also married before they turned 18. This figure was 23.3 per cent for India.

There are also multiple instances where girls, often seen as a burden in poorer families, being forced into marriage against their will or being ill-treated at their husband’s home.

Yet, the arrests have prompted concern from child rights activists, the media and legal experts who argue the clampdown is hardly the right way to solve the problem that has deep-rooted social complexities.