Child marriage in Afghanistan

According to UNICEF, child marriage is the "formal marriage or informal union before age 18," and it affects more girls than boys.[1] In Afghanistan, 57% of girls are married before they are 19.[2] In fact, the most common ages for girls to get married are 15 and 16.[3] Factors such as gender dynamics, family structure, cultural, political, and economic perceptions/ideologies all play a role in determining if a girl is married at a young age.[4] The practice of child marriage has been linked to detrimental consequences for girls, such as the inability to obtain an education and skills to work independently.[4] Girls may also suffer physical harm, as their bodies are often not developed for childbirth, resulting in emotional, mental, and physical trauma for both the girl and her child.[4]

Laws Regarding Child Marriage

Afghan Government Law

According to Afghan Civil Law Article 40, "marriage is a contract between a male and female for the establishment of a family." [2] Article 70 sets the legal age of marriage to be 16 for females and 18 for males; Article 71 (subsection 1) gives a girl's marriage rights to her father or guardian before the legal age of 16, and marriages for minors under the age of 15 are not allowed under any circumstance.[2] Despite the establishment of Civil Law, regional customs take precedence over national law, as well as Sharia law. Due to shortcomings in the implementation of the Civil law, child marriages are still prevalent.[4][5] While new laws are being introduced progressively, the U.N. Development Programme’s annual Gender Inequality Index still ranks Afghanistan as the sixth worst country for female equality in the world.[6] Statistics from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission showed that about 60-80% of the total marriages in Afghanistan are forced and/or underage marriage.[7] In 2009, Afghanistan passed the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), which guarantees penalties for domestic violence, abuses against women, as well as forced child marriage, yet the implementation of this law has not been thoroughly enforced, as there is also opposition for the law. In 2013, the Afghan parliament passed a law preventing girls from testifying against forced marriages, and the EVAW was protested by students at Kabul University, who deemed it "un-Islamic".[8]

Sharia Law

In Islam, marriage represents a couple’s acknowledgement of their social responsibility and an agreement to abide by the marriage contract’s terms and conditions. One of the conditions in the Islam marriage contract requires the verbal and written consent of both the bride and groom, as well as the female’s acceptance of the male’s proposal.[9]

Sharia Law, also known as Islamic law, dictates the following regulations concerning marriage:

Islam, particularly the Sunni school of Hanafi, is central to Afghan culture. From the mid-18th to mid-19th century, Afghan society was mostly decentralized, leaving different ethnic groups to decide how they should practice and implement Hanafi principles. However, research has shown that family judges often made rulings that ignored the rights of women outlined in Sharia.[3] Later, from 1880 to 1901, the Afghan ruler Amir Abd al-Rahman Khan created royal decrees based on Sharia which sought to eliminate child and forced marriage. Similarly, as ruler from 1901-1919, his son Amir Habibullah Khan kept the same legislation in place in order to advance the rights of women.[3] From 1973-1978, President Muhammad Daoud passed legislation related to family law, which was based on the more liberal Maliki law, and Decree Number 7 outlawed child marriage for girls under 16 and boys under 18 years of age. Punishment for violators was also implemented, which included imprisonment for up to three years.[3]

Reasons for child marriage

Badal, or marriage based on exchange, happens when two families agree to exchange female members of their families, often to offset the cost of a marriage or to strengthen familial ties.[5][10] Baad, or compensation, is a marriage that occurs to compensate a victim's family if a crime has been committed. Young girls are married into the victim's family, which is supposed to resolve the conflict.[10] Girls are also placed into marriages in order to repay large amounts of debt.[5] In a study included in the report "Early marriage in Afghanistan," regional differences accounted for a vast difference in child marriage incidence. Of the girls interviewed, 59% came from rural areas while 41% were from urban cities. Of those married at age 12, 75% resided in rural areas, as well.[5] Literacy rate also displayed a strong correlation with child marriage, as out of 200 interviewees, 71% of parents who forced their daughters to marry, as well as 70% of the girls, and 50% of the husbands were illiterate.[5] Poverty also proves to be a factor, as well, as parents marry girls because they have no financial resources to support them; unfortunately, when a girl is a child bride, it limits the opportunity for employment, and 94.3% of women interviewed reported they were unemployed, as they were subject to a childhood marriage.[5] Daughters may also be given into marriage in order for parents to obtain economic benefits from the dowry, and since parents are often uneducated, marriage seems like an appropriate option for a girl's future stability.[11]

Effects

Health

Early child marriage places both the girl's health, as well as her child's health in jeopardy. Malnutrition, abuse, and HIV infection are a few of the detrimental health complications associated with early marriage.[12] It has been reported that the risk of dying from childbirth and pregnancy is two times higher for girls between the ages of 15 and 19 than for older women.[13] This, compounded with the fact that child marriages tend to occur in societies with poorer healthcare, results in higher rates of pregnancy complications and maternal mortality.[14] In Afghanistan, 34.1% of mothers who married early had children that were physically weak and 8.9% have reported that their children were born with a disability. Approximately 40.4% of early wed mothers report having a gynecological disease, and 20.2% suffer from a psychological disease.[5] According to the World Health Organization, outside of sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan has the second highest incidence of maternal deaths, and 32% of all deaths for girls ages 15–19 are pregnancy-related while 47% of deaths for women who were in the age range of 20-24 were also due to pregnancy complications.[8] Fistula is one of the detrimental health effects caused by child marriage, and the 2011 survey conducted by the Social Health Development Program found that of the 3,040 women interviewed, 67% were between the ages of 16 and 20 when they were diagnosed with an obstetric fistula.[8] Young mothers also suffer from pregnancy-induced hypertension as well as a higher risk of HIV infection.[13]

Education

Currently, the literacy rate for Afghan adolescent girls is about 21%.[15] Once married, a child’s education often comes to an end. Usually, this happens because the child undertakes domestic responsibilities, as well as childcare.[15] However, even if the child manages to get permission to attend school, the school administrators will often deny her a place in school, which is due to a belief that having married girls in a school is detrimental to the morals of unmarried girls.[2] Depriving girls of an education inhibits their ability to obtain sustainable economic opportunities, which limits independence and further subjects them to poverty. A lack of education also forces girls to continue living in abusive situations, as they are unaware of other options.[14]

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence in Afghanistan is often exacerbated due to a variety of factors, such as poverty, illiteracy, and narcotics.[5] The international NGO Global Rights reports in a 2006 survey that "more than 85% of Afghan women reported that they had experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence or forced marriage."[8] Adverse health and economic impacts are linked to domestic violence, and studies indicate that approximately 2,000 girls have attempted suicide due to the unbearable conditions they were subject to. Even if girls attempt to escape from an abusive relationship, they are accused of running away, which can lead to arrest.[8] Because they marry at a young age, girls who are child brides also have less power, which places them in a position where they may lack authority in every-day decisions, and research has shown that in time, they may even justify domestic violence.[13]

International Recommendations

United Nations Population Fund

In their chapter "Giving Girls A Chance: An Agenda for Action," the UNPFA outlined the following strategies for improving the conditions of girls who are most vulnerable to early marriage:

International Human Rights Declarations

Various international conventions have outlined regulations that prohibit child marriage. The following are organizations that have taken a stance against the practice of child marriage:

Related Literature

References

  1. ↑ Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse: Child marriage. UNICEF. Missing or empty |title= (help);
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bahgam, S; Mukhatari (2004). "Study on Child Marriage in Afghanistan" (PDF). Medica Mondiale: 1–20. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Riphenburg, Carol (May–June 2004). "Post-Taliban Afghanistan: Changed Outlook for Women?". Asian Survey. 44 (3): 401–422. doi:10.1525/as.2004.44.3.401.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Deborah (2009). "Decisions, Desires and Diversity: Marriage Practices in Afghanistan". Afghanistan Research & Evaluation Unit (AREU).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Early Marriage in Afghanistan". Women and Children Legal Research Foundation. 2008.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Kay (5 January 2012). "Child bride's torture renews Afghan rights worries". Associated Press. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "Afghanistan: The tribulations of child-bearing children". Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Afghanistan: Ending Child Marriage and Domestic Violence". Human Rights Watch: 1–15. 2009.
  9. ↑ Huda. "The Islamic MarriageContract". Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Afghanistan: Marriage". Landinfo: 1–30. 2011.
  11. ↑ Lee-Rife, Susan; Anju Malhorta; Ann Warner; Allison McGonagle Glinski. "What Works to Prevent Child Marriage: A Review of the Evidence". Studies in Family Planning. 43 (4).
  12. ↑ Hampton, Tracy (2010). "Child Marriage Threatens Girls' Health". The Journal of the American Medical Association: 509–510.
  13. 1 2 3 Jain, Saranga; Kurz, Kathleen. "New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage" (PDF). The United States Agency for International Development. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  14. 1 2 Raj, A. (7 October 2010). "When the mother is a child: the impact of child marriage on the health and human rights of girls". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 95 (11): 931–935. doi:10.1136/adc.2009.178707.
  15. 1 2 "The Complete Mothers' Index 2004" (PDF). State of the World's Mothers 2004. Save The Children. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage". UNFPA: 1–74. 2012.
  17. 1 2 3 "Early Marriage: Child Spouses". Innocenti Digest. 7. 2001.
  18. ↑ Yousafzai, Malala (2013). I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. Great Britain: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  19. ↑ SETHULAKSHMI (1996). "Memories of a Child Marriage". India International Centre Quarterly. 23 (3/4): 31–39.
  20. ↑ Ali, Nujood (March 2, 2010). I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. Broadway Books.
  21. ↑ Nawa, Fariba (November 8, 2011). Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan. Harper Perennial.
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