Arranged Marriages and its Effects in Afghanistan

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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 imbedded 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 were eighteen years of age. In Afghanistan, 43 percent of brides from 2000 to 2008 were married before the age of eighteen and the number has risen due to poverty and problems the country is facing (Norland and Rubin 1). In developing countries such as Yemen, India, and Afghanistan, the practice of early arranged marriages is outlawed in their countries’ constitutions. Any such marriages take place illegally or under the radar of the law (Gorney 1). Afghan women and girls are being forced into arranged marriages to settle things such as debt and to secure stable futures for themselves or their families. Often these girls are targets for physical and mental abuse with little or no way out. Therefore, there should be more Muslim organizations that dedicate themselves to the education of the Afghan people about the physical and emotional effects of forcing young girls into marriage and ways to improve the lives of Afghan girls.
In contrast to America, Afghanistan has so much cultural background wrapped into marriage. Who are Americans with our western views to question or judge Afghan culture or ...

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Bourreau, Marie, Ron Moreau, and Sami Yousafzai. “The Opium Brides of Afghanistan.” Newsweek 151.14(2008):4. Galileo. Web. 25 Oct.2013
Gorney, Cynthia. “The Secret World of Child Brides.” Nationageographic.com. National Geographic, June 2011.Web. 25 Oct 2013
Husseini, Rena. “Honor Killings.” Pbs.org. PBS, n.d. Web. 13 Nov 2013
Kakar, Palwasha. Tribal Law of Pashtunwali and Women’s Legislative Authority. Law.harvard.edu. Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law (2004). Web. 5 Nov. 2013
Norland, Ron, and Alissa Rubin. “Marriage or Else.” Junior Scholarastic 113.11(2011):3. Galileo. Web. 28 Oct. 2013---“Child Bride Escape Marriage, but Not Lashes.” Nytimes.com. New York Times, 30 May 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2013

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