Child marriage is defined as “any marriage carried out below the age of 18 years, before the girl is physically, physiologically reader to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and childbearing” (Walker 231). 15 million underage girls throughout the world are married yearly (Asadullah and Wahhaj). These early marriages are most notably carried out in poorer regions of the world, such as the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. There are a vast number of motives driving child marriages; these factors are fueled by socio-economic situations, religious beliefs, and cultural norms. It is normal for those of us who live in westernized nations to cringe and vehemently protest the practice of child marriage. We label it as a human …show more content…
In my opinion, the ramifications of early marriages are weightier than its benefits. Nevertheless, by widening our narrow perspective on the issue and envisioning child marriage through the eyes of its practitioners, we will gain a deeper understanding of these third world societies and through this understanding, arrive at effective preventative measures.
The profits families derive from marrying off their young daughters fall into economic and social categories. In the article “Early Marriage in Africa--Trends, Harmful Effects and Interventions,” Judith Walker highlights the financial gains of child marriage. She states that “marrying girls off before the age of 18 is experienced positively for poor families who are relieved of the responsibility of feeding, clothing, and protecting the girl child” (Walker 233). The monetary struggle of caring for their daughter is taken out of their hands and given permanently to the family of the groom. By having one less mouth to feed, families can spread their meager income more equally among their other children. Additionally, they will have more money to put into savings or to purchase goods or services they could not previously afford. In countries with strict social codes, early marriages prevent the blackening of a
In their article, Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas focus on the concept of childbearing in poor women and report the results they find from their 2 and a half year study of unmarried women. One of the most interesting concepts they noticed was that these women not only were conscious about their decisions, such as becoming pregnant at a young age or having children out of wedlock, but saw these decisions as being responsible. They explain this as follows: “The growing rarity of marriage among the poor, particularly prior to childbirth, has led some observers to claim that marriage has lost its meaning in low-income communities.” (Promises I Can Keep 11.2). Ultimately, it seems that individuals of the lower class have a very different perception
Imagine seeing a girl no older than eight years old, being forced into marriage to a man twice her age. For many girls around the world, being forced into marriage to much older men is an everyday occurrence in their lives. The word “arranged” is not usually associated with the word “forced” but in cases like these the girls have no choice but to agree to marry. Arranged marriages are deeply embedded into the cultures of some countries, with girls being promised into marriage when they are as young as a month old and marrying before they reach maturity. About a third of the women married in developing countries are married before they are eighteen years of age.
An example of women’s inequality in other countries is arranged marriage. According to a 2013 study 39,000 girls forced into marriage
expensive for working class parents. For parents that are working below the average household income, it would be tougher to pay for full time childcare if the money they are earning is not able to all go to that expense. Unfortunately, not all states in the U.S. provide services that assist families with paying for child care costs. These services are more common in urban areas where there is a higher percentage of low income families.
These types of marriages still continue today in the third world countries because it part
Every person in the world is not going to be crazy about the idea of marriage. Still, for the most part, the majority of people want to be married at some point in time of their life. For a person to fall in love with somebody and commit themselves for the rest of their lives is absolutely outstanding. Even though the majority of marriages is going to be positive, marriage can likewise have its downfalls at times too. No marriage is going to be perfect, but it is the time and determination two people put into the marriage that is going to allow the journey to be worthwhile. In most marriages, the positives will unquestionably outweigh the negatives. In marriage, people have to stop thinking about only themselves and think about another human
Each day, 25,000 or more children are married and become child brides: and in Yemen, over fifty two percent of girls are married before eighteen years old, and fourteen percent are married before the age of fifteen(“Laws Fail to Stop Child Marriage”), which is the highest rates of child marriages in the world. In Iraq, however, eleven percent of girls are married before eighteen (“Child Marriage: Legalized Rape?”) while a new law in Iraq could lead to girls as young as nine years old getting married and having to submit to sex whenever her husband wants. (Aly)Sometimes, girls as young as ten would be forced to marry men up to four or five times their age(Birkett) and a husband can have sex with his wife regardless of consent(“Humanitarian News and Analysis”). Children ten to fourteen are five times more likely to die during childbirth than women in early twenties because their bodies aren’t physically equipped for childbirth.(Baz) “Married underage girls are subjected to physical and psychological suffering”(“Humanitarian News and Analysis”). This is disturbing because while in India, the percent of arranged marriages is 90% of all marriages in India, almost all being younger than eighteen.(Gorney and Sinclair). By the end of the decade an estimated 142 million girls will be married before eighteen years old, while one in three girls in the world are married before eighteen, while one in nine are married before fifteen. 400 million women in the Middle East between twenty and forty nine were married before eighteen. (Al-Ansi) These numbers shock people in America, but in the Middle East, arranged marriage and pre pubescent marriage is nothing to blink an eye about. This leads to the conclusion that even though Islam constitutes ma...
Parents are known to have a big impact on their chills’ life. As children grow up they learn from their parents and model behaviors that they see after them. Relationships between child and parent are also an important factor in child development. Many believe that having same-sex parent impacts a child’s life. I do not believe that the sexual orientation of a parent either negatively or positively impact the child but the relation between the child and the parent has the most impact on a child’s life not the sexual orientation of the parent. Having same-sex parents does not negatively impact children. Parent children relationship has shown to be important indicators on friendships, how well a child does in school, and also a predictor of
For thousands of years until today, the best way to officially be the partner of someone is through marriage. People have practiced marriage for thousands of years. Many cultures see marriage as the best method to celebrate the love of a couple until death tears them apart. “Marriage establishes and maintains family, creates and sustains the ties of kinship, and is the basis of community” (Rowe 2). Marriage is a concept bigger than ones happiness and it is the basic for creating a peaceful home for the family. According to Rowe, “This sense of home requires the dynamic participation of both women and men--the women to mother and the men to father--to fulfill the daily roles of teaching, nurturing and protecting children” ( 2). Parents have an obligation to take care for children, so that when they grow up they are able to become a person who is strong enough to support himself. But there are different opinions whether raising a child should be shared equally between parents. One group thinks that it is essential for a child to grow up with the love and care of both parents. Meanwhile, others believe that child raising should be shared in a way that suits the family. While single parents argue that even without one parent they can give their children the needed love and care.
Child marriage is a global issue, transpiring in all parts of the world. Abducted from their home and family, young girls - below eighteen - are married off against their own will not only affecting the girls (mentally and physically) but the country as a whole. The organization, Too Young to Wed, says “… marrying them off at such a young age, they are putting the girls at risk and perpetuation the cycle of powerlessness and poverty.” Child marriages occurred throughout history and still an affair today due to society’s tolerance. And the number of young girls forced to wed increased and will continue to increase if society remains tolerant to this sensitive matter.
Is it fair to have to take a course and pass a test to become a parent?
Child abuse refers to lack of care or any type of emotional, physical or sexual mistreatment that results in emotional damage or physical injury to a child or a youth. In most countries, children are considered to be anyone below 18 years of age. Child abuse can occur directly by harming a child or indirectly by failing to prevent the child from any form of harm or injury. Child abuse can occur either in the family set up, in the community set up or in an institution such as a school. Also, children can be abused by adults or by other children or by people who know them or people who are complete strangers to them.
Because of child marriage many kids lose the opportunity to continue with school. When kids don’t go to school they lose out on many employment opportunities to help the household financially. When children miss out on employment opportunities it keeps the cycle of poverty going. Parents should not be marrying off their children so young just because they cant provide for them, there is other options instead of throwing out your daughter. Every child is valuable and deserves to live a childs life and have fun and just worry about being a kid instead of having a grow up while still yet a child. Each child should enjoy their child years, it only happens once and then real life hits, no child should be deprived of a childhood. Parents should step up and take responsibility for the life that they brought into the world. These countries that waddle in child marriage are some of the poorest because the cycle of poverty starts all over again as these two people joined together have to figure out to make finances work when they couldn’t even finish school to get a good job. Parents should let their children be children, their lives should be more valuable than any money they can get for marrying off their
Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father.
Young marriage has an impressive number of disadvantages and bad repercussions that can be observed in most of the early wedded couples’ lives. While most boys have a say in when and who they marry, and what they do once they are married, many girls do not get the chance to make these decisions. Husbands of young wives are often older men who expect their wives to follow traditions, stay home, and undertake household and child-care duties; or non mature irresponsible young men who consider themselves able to pull such a burden. Early marriage involves huge responsibility from male, especially financial support. Combining job and education is not an easy case to deal with. So, early marriage has a high possibility of putting an end o...