Many people in the Western world mistakenly believe child
marriage is a thing of the past and has nothing to do with them. However, child
marriage is still very real and a global issue, not only in the developing
world but also in the UK.
Let me begin with a couple of statistics. Globally, about 1
in 3 women get married before their 18th birthday (with the highest
rates of child marriage occurring in South Asia). But, even in the UK, there are 5000-8000
people at risk of being forced into marriage against their will each year.
Not only is forcing a child to get married not right, but
there are health issues associated with it as well. The child is not ready for
married life, both physically and emotionally, and there are major risks
associated with pregnancy and childbirth, especially for a young teenager’s still
developing body. This significantly increases the risk of death of both the mother
and the baby during labour and could permanently damage the young mother’s body.
But there are also emotional consequences for the child bride. The husband is
usually much older, leading to likely oppression of the young bride. In
addition, the child bride is likely to be immature and unable to play the role expected
of her as a wife and mum. This will surely lead to a life of unhappiness and potentially
even long-term depression.
Take Loki, who lives in a small village in Bangladesh, for
example. She may be 18 (so legally no longer a child), but is still very
childlike at heart. She is not ready to give up her childhood and become a
wife, yet her parents recently brought a man over (who appeared to be in his
early 30s) to view him as a potential husband for her. It was not a good match,
but if he wants to marry her and her parents agree, then she will have little
choice in the matter.
There are many others. One Bangladeshi woman I met got
married at 14. While her husband seems lovely, she doesn’t, and has never loved
him. Consequently the now older woman has never known a happy marriage. But, as
expected of Bangladeshi women, she makes do and serves her family’s ever need.
In July, the ‘Girl Summit’ took place in London. During this
event, four NGOs talked about child marriage and what is needed to help tackle
the issue. These discussions included tactics that have been found successful in delaying
marriage (such as reproductive health education programmes in schools) as well
as some of their experiences campaigning against child marriage. Such campaigns
can help raise awareness about child marriage and even have the potential to reach
children at risk of being forced into early marriage by their families.
