CHILD MARRIAGE IN FOCUS: The Adolescents’ abused human rights and lost dreams
- LYDIA WRITES
I am Lydia Amoah, a police woman of the Ghana Police Service, a human rights activist, feminist, and an ambassador of Guba Inspires Project ''End Child Marriage''.
Child marriage has been and is a still major social issue affecting most girls across the world. As a global phenomenon that is prevalent in many third world countries with Ghana not being an exception, its causes and adverse effects is one that have drawn so much of global attention.
Child marriage in simple terms means marrying a person under 18 years going a long way to deny affected boys and girls of their rights to education, health and security and the right to choose when and whom to marry and more importantly affects their dignity and prevent them from actualizing their goals and dreams. The issue of child marriage again has been and still canker which cuts across all the 16 regions in Ghana. Without an iota of doubt the practice has been a thorn in the flesh of government of Ghana and the world at large.
According to data released by UNICEF in July 2014, each year 15 million girls worldwide marry before their 18th birthday. A breakdown of the above figure did indicate that 41,000 girls get married every day. Thus, 28 girls get married every minute and a girl gets married every two seconds. While the global statistics is alarming, the situation is not different from the SubSaharan Africa as indicated by UNICEF that the number of child brides could be doubled by 2050 if nothing is done to eradicate it. In effect, Sub-Saharan Africa will surpass Asia which happens to the continent with most child brides.
Globally, over 700 million women living today married before they turned 18. Out of which more than one in three were married before age 15.
Given the above alarming number of child marriage globally, the driving forces of this practice in Ghana, though complicated are still interrelated. Key among these forces include but not limited to;
Gender inequalities
Teenage pregnancy
Economic insecurity
Traditional, Customary Practices and Social norms
"Survivors & Victims of Child Marriage" in Ghana. The real story of Amina, Hamdia, Wubaida & Elizabeth. #EndChildMarriage#GubaInspires
The common theme in the above stated forces (factors) is the predominance of patriarchy and the subordinate role of women and girls in the family and the society at large.
Deeply rooted gender inequalities: As stated, patriarchy and gender inequalities are underlying factors driving child marriage in Ghana. This is reflected in the fact that when most families face economic insecurity, the girl is most likely than the boy to be pulled out of school and potentially married off to ease the financial burden on the family. This, undeniably, demonstrates how girls’ rights are not as valued as boys’. Not surprisingly, therefore, the prevalence rate for girls is much higher than that of boys.
In Ghana, teenage pregnancy is both a cause and a consequence of child married. The 2014 DHS reported that 14% of girls aged 15 – 19 years had begun having children. Girls living in rural areas with no education were more likely to get pregnant early. To avoid social ridicule, the girl is usually given in marriage to the boy/man who impregnated her. The fear of parents having their daughters (teenagers) getting pregnant force them to give the girls in marriage.
Another key factor of child marriage which cannot be overlooked is economic insecurity. The 2014 DHS data did indicate that there is a negative correlation between economic status and early marriage. However, the relationship between economic insecurity and child marriage is complex. Typical example is where families see female children as “financial burden” and thus marry them off almost as an economic survival strategy. In other cases, if the family does not have ample money to pay for the education of the children, girls are compelled to leave school. This is in turn makes them vulnerable to teenage pregnancy or migration for work in the case of “kayayei”. Where a girl has dropped out of school, the options for further educational improvement or a livelihood are limited. Under such situations, marriage or union with a man becomes a viable option and potentially a way out of poverty.
While traditional and customary practices are rapidly changing in Ghana, some still persist and remains a key contributing factor as far as the issue of child married is concerned.
This of course will vary significantly from one religion to another. Some of the problematic customs include giving girls in marriage as “gifts” to wealthy and titled men in society, or as a means of “compensation” and “settlement” of family/communal issues including debt, inherited liabilities and religious obligations. The devastating effects of child marriage are one that deprives the child’s ability to enjoy their fundamental human rights. Thus, it violates their rights to;
Education
Health
Equality and non-discrimination,
Consensual marriage
Achieving their dreams and even
Employment
Given the enormity of the problem from the world point of view, global effort in addressing the menace thus far, is quite impressive.
In 2013, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution banning child marriage which Ghana was in full support of it. Beyond that, in 2015, global leaders included a target to terminate child marriage under Goal Five 5 – thus, achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls of the recently adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At the regional level, various African leaders have shown their commitment to eradicating the canker with immediate effect.
In 2015, the African Union (AU) in collaboration with the Government of Zambia convened a high level of Girl’s Summit to facilitate continental awareness of the effects of child marriage and to hasten the end of child marriage.
In Ghana, significant efforts are also underway to bring the menace to a halt. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana spells out clearly that a person under the age of 18 is a child and therefore cannot marry or be given off in marriage.
Under the leadership of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoDCSP), the Government has launched an Ending Child Marriage Campaign, the National Gender Policy, and Justice for Children Policy among several others which engage different sectors of Government, Civil Society, and Development Partners, media, religious and traditional leaders as well as other relevant stakeholders in a joint effort to mitigate early child marriage.
From the arguments so far advanced, it is undeniable that child marriage is indeed a global phenomenon that has wrecked so much havoc to the victims with girls being disproportionately affected. In light of the above, the following recommendations have been made;
State institutions must be empowered to effectively implement laws that protect and promote the rights of children.
There is the need to build capacity of community structures to respond to issues of child marriage at the community level.
Certain traditional customary practices that deprive those individuals of their fundamental human rights must be abolished.
Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) must have representative at all levels to make it easier to remote and distant communities to access justice..
Project "End Child Marriage" in Focus. The real story as it happens. #SchoolFeesNotBridePrice
Kommentare