Gender Issues Surrounding Child Marriages in South Asia - Coursework Example

Gender Issues Surrounding Child Marriages in South Asia The persistence of child marriages in South Asian countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Maldives has been considered to be a backwards step for women living in this global region in exercising their human rights. By definition of the United Nations, child marriage is the ceremonial or legal union, or both of individuals under the legal age of 18 without the consent of either one or both.1This makes child marriage a forced union between one or two unwilling participants, with the female bearing the greater burden of the marriage. By allowing young girls to get married earlier it stagnates their mental growth, affects their physical growth by bearing children before they have physically matured, and removes opportunities for education and work.2 In turn, these problems create gender-based issues such as economic marginalization, poor health care, high sexual health risks, encountering domestic violence through the male or his relatives, frequent abuses from males, and getting trapped in a cycle of poverty and dependence on men.34As such this marriage is prohibited by international treaties and countries due to the revocation of a basic right of free choice.5However, despite global initiatives in eradicating this practice and the passing of various treaties and bills that deems child marriage to be illegal, up to 46% of women in South Asia of the ages 20-24 reported to have been married at very young ages, with India alone having about 10 million child brides despite The 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.6With the strong influence of patriarchy in nearly all South Asian nations, it will take a lot of conscious effort by women, men, and higher authorities to gradually reduce the number of child marriages in this region, as well as in changing the traditional mindset of those who allow and continue to patronize such acts against human rights of children and especially females. Facts about Child Marriages in South Asia The high prevalence of child marriages in South Asia has been sanctioned by the prevailing patriarchal societies which encompass rules and legislations of states and nations, and in turn is fueled by gaps and poor enforcement of anti-child marriage laws, poverty, illiteracy, natural disaster or conflicts.7In addition, the existence of personal laws in some Muslim countries affect how laws regarding forced marriages are imposed or sanctioned, wherein laws tied with marriage, inheritance, divorce, and custody are tried differently under Sharia law, allowing the perpetuation of child marriages as the Sharia laws deem fit.8In turn, the presence of alternative courts circumvents possible prosecutions for child marriages since these are usually not recorded or reported immediately to proper authorities. It is expected that by allowing these forced marriages to happen, by the year 2020 it is estimated that more than 140 million girls will be married as children, with nearly 14 million children getting married since 2010, and averaging 39,000 girls married per day.9Most often than not the males in these forced marriages are often older, have jobs and are considered to be the breadwinners, have already experienced numerous sexual encounters, and have been conditioned to view women as nothing more than property.10Allowing child marriages to exist can affect the overall well-being of females in areas where it is still practiced despite wide prohibitions of the act, and will further increase the rates of female abuse, early pregnancies, pregnancy complications, deliveries resulting to death by either or both the mother and the child, risks for acquiring sexually-transmitted diseases, illiteracy rates, and dependence from relatives or males. There are also higher risks of psychological and social risks associated with the perpetuation of child marriages, causing not only harsh physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts on the mothers but also to the children, further fueling the negative effects of the child marriage cycle.11The numerous risks and negative effects of child marriages to females have raised awareness of the persistence of such practices, and forced international organizations as well as concerned citizens within and outside South Asia to abolish the practice of child marriages. In recognizing the dangers of early marriage to children, even more so for the females, initiatives to promote education and better health practices become necessary in order to promote the basic human rights of the children, as well as to allow females to gain access to tools which can help them gain financial and economic independence from men, as well as to take better care of their children in the process. Efforts made towards the Abolition of Child Marriages in South Asia Through interventions of international organizations as well as local initiatives of feminist groups and educated people in South Asia, there has been considerable increase in movements and efforts towards the eventual cessation of the practice of child marriages in South Asia. While poverty is most-likely the root of child marriages since instead of dowry given to the groom’s family the young female child is sold off to pay debts, often it is the entry of education within these areas that cause changes by allowing the girls to gain opportunities to learn, to test their capabilities, and earn themselves a sense of accomplishment and gain strength in resisting customs and traditions that prevent their further growth and development.1213Such efforts is exemplified by a case in Bangladesh published in the Daily Star in 2007, describing the efforts of 50 young local girls in protesting against child marriage by marching for their 13 year-old classmate Habiba Sultana, as well as filing a formal police complaint against her father for allowing her to marry a male neighbor 10 years her senior.14When the police signed a document that prevented Habiba’s father from allowing her to marry until the legal age of 18, the case was proven to be a success for the females and for Habiba considering their status as females and under the legal age as well as the apparently high tolerance of the country to child marriages due to Bangladesh having the highest prevalence of child marriages in the whole South Asian region.15The process of disallowing Habiba’s father to force her to get married before the legal age of 18 enabled her to finish her schooling without the intervention of early marriage, and can be considered to be a stepping stone towards the abolition of child marriage in Bangladesh as well as in other South Asian nations. Despite the possibility of slow acceptance of most people due to the long history of the tradition among these cultures, it is possible that providing education among the younger females empowers them to think and stand up for themselves and for their rights, and further supported by the fact that as education rates among females increase, the rates of underage or child marriages decrease as well as rates of delaying marriage to pursue higher education, in turn contributing to poverty alleviation within these regions.16 Final Remarks Persistent attachment to obsolete cultures and traditions, and the continued patronage of patriarchy-based ideals and beliefs allow societies to continually undermine the capacity of women to be independent and productive in their own, which in turn prevents them from reaching their full potential and remaining below men in the social ladder. Adding to this is the lack of proper enforcement of applicable anti-child marriage laws in many South Asian countries, further thrusting many young females into marriages that they did not have any choice of, but also prevents them from gaining better opportunities to alleviate poverty, to become educated, and to have access to healthy options and lifestyles. These circumstances show how females are often delegated to low-paying or almost non-paying tasks which tax their bodies, their social welfare, and their psychological and emotional well-being. Inasmuch as the entry of education and knowledge dissemination within South Asia has enlightened many women in the possibilities of allowing the younger generations to escape from pre-arranged marriages with no hopes for exercising their basic human rights, it will be much more difficult to invoke such rights when the laws and the law enforcers themselves act in preventing the exercising of these rights. Thus, in order to fully liberate most South Asian nations from the persisting traditions of child marriages and forced marriages, a slow yet sturdy effort of continually opposing these kinds of marriages must happen, not just for the law and the authorities to take notice of, but most importantly for the people and a greater part of the population to change their mindsets in accepting the legality of such marriages as well as the cycle of harm and poverty it creates for succeeding generations of females and beyond. Bibliography Center for Reproductive Rights. Child Marriage in South Asia. Briefing Paper, New York: Center for Reproductive Rights, 2013. Chatterjee, Siddarth. Married Young: The Scourge of Child Brides in South Asia. January 11, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/siddharth-chatterjee/married-young-the-scourge_b_4560523.html (accessed March 11, 2014). Chitnis, Deepak. India has 10 million child brides, says Council on Foreign Relations. January 9, 2014. http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2014/01/09/india-10-million-child-brides-says-council-foreign-relations/ (accessed March 11, 2014). Davis, Anthony, Claire Postles, and Giorgiana Rosa. A girls right to say no to marriage: Working to end child marriage and keep girls in school. Woking: Plan International, 2013. Fedousi, Nahid. "Children Silent Victims in Child Marriage in Bangladesh: Significance of Legal Protection for their Wellbeing." Developing Country Studies 3, 2013: 18-26. Goonesekere, Savitri. Harmful Traditional Practices in Three Countries of South Asia: culture, human rights and violence against women. Gender and Development Discussion Paper Series No. 21, Bangkok: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2007. Hashmi, Arshi Saleem. Issue of Women’s Rights in South Asia. August 2011. http://www.saglobalaffairs.com/back-issues/972-issue-of-womens-rights-in-south-asia.html (accessed March 11, 2014). Khanna, Tina, Ravi Verma, and Ellen Weiss. Child Marriage in South Asia: Realities, Responses and the Way Forward. Technical Thematic Paper, Bangkok: International Center for Research on Women, 2013. Schaefer, Taylor. Unveiling child marriage: Modern slavery and executions. October 31, 2013. http://www.examiner.com/article/unveiling-child-marriage-modern-slavery-and-executions (accessed March 11, 2014). UN News Centre. Over 140mn girls will become child brides by 2020: UN. March 8, 2013. http://southasia.oneworld.net/news/over-140mn-girls-will-become-child-brides-by-2020-un#.Ux79m-PoR1A (accessed March 11, 2014). Read More