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Early marriage: An international perspective

Early marriage: An international perspective. Concepts. Arranged marriages Bridal abduction Forced marriages Early marriage Notion of AGE and CONSENT. Examples of early marriage. Rajasthan, India : To facilitate the passing on of wealth and property within the family

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Early marriage: An international perspective

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  1. Early marriage: An international perspective

  2. Concepts • Arranged marriages • Bridal abduction • Forced marriages • Early marriage • Notion of AGE and CONSENT

  3. Examples of early marriage • Rajasthan, India: To facilitate the passing on of wealth and property within the family • Niger: to follow tradition, reinforce ties among or between communities, and protect girls from out-of-wedlock pregnancy • Bangladesh: Free parents from economic burden, protect sexual purity, fulfill role as sexual and domestic servant. • Albania: Families in rural areas encourage their daughters to marry early before potential husbands migrate to cities in search of work • Ethiopia: In some regions, 40% of girls are married before 15, in some cases following abduction and rape to avoid a bride price.

  4. Explanations • Maximizing fertility • Economic survival strategy • Protecting girls • To excuse a rape • Contemporary pressures

  5. Early marriage and human rights • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) – “men and women of full age”; “full and free consent”. • Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) – “betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect”; “specify legal age of marriage” • Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – “Best interests”, “rights to express his or her views freely”, “protection from exploitation” “non-discrimination..” • African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999):

  6. “Child marriage and the betrothal of girls and • boys shall be prohibited and effective action, • including legislation, shall be taken to specify the • minimum age of marriage to be 18 years and make • registration of all marriages in an official registry • compulsory” • African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of the Child

  7. Considerations for national legislation • Often early marriage may be prohibited in existing civil or common law, but condoned in customary or religious laws and practice • National laws often discriminatory, setting a lower minimum age for girls • South African “Recognition of Customary Marriages Act” sets an appropriate minimum age and requires registration. • Allows children under the minimum age to be married with the permission of their parents or a court

  8. Impact • Psychosocial harm • Risks of early pregnancy and childbirth • HIV risks • Denial of education • Violence and abandonment

  9. Taking action – some examples • Uganda: Teenage Health Information Service • Bangladesh: Secondary School Scholarships for girls • Egypt: New Horizons Nonformal Education Programme • Pakistan: Involving Boys • India: Grants to postpone marriage • Burkina Faso: Refuge for girls • Senegal: Community training to address FGM/C

  10. Lessons from tackling Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting • FGM/C as a self-reinforcing social convention • In communities that inter-marry, a single families choice of whether or not to continue the tradition is conditioned by the choice of others. • Through the TOSTAN “Community Empowerment Programme” about 3,800 villages in Senegal out of the 5,000 that practice FGM/C have publicly announced their abandonment of the practice

  11. Six key elements for change • A non-coercive and non-judgmental approach whose primary focus is the fulfillment of human rights • An awareness on the part of a community of the harm caused by the practice. • The decision to abandon the practice as a collective choice of a group that intramarries or is closely connected in other ways • An explicit, public affirmation on the part of communities of their collective commitment • A process of organized diffusion to ensure that the decision to abandon FGM/C spreads rapidly from one community to another and is sustained • An environment that enables and supports change (Government commitment, civil society involvement, support in media)

  12. Taking action against early marriage • Actions should be addressed at those already married, as well as preventive actions aimed at wider society. • - Sex education and reproductive health services • - Education for girls • Support for girls in marriage and those that escape • Livelihood and life-skills for girls • Birth and marriage registration (including record of consent) • Advocacy and awareness raising

  13. Some suggestions for advocacy • Campaign to ensure implementation of legal age of marriage • Promote an effective system of registration of births and marriages • Set up small scale studies into the implications of early marriage • Raise awareness via social mobilisation involving women’s networks, opinion leaders, politicians and community leaders (International Women’s Day, 16 days of Activism • Work with media to emphasize women’s rights, equality, access to education, freedom from exploitation and discrimination • Work with men to promote attitudinal change. • Importance of working at local level.

  14. Thank you Stephen BlightChief, Child ProtectionUNICEF South Africasblight@unicef.org082 561 1426

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