Economic progress is not the only indicator of a country's development, a nation requires its people to show courage against social pressures and overcome social evils, said President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday after meeting five teenagers from West Bengal who fought social and family pressure and resisted child marriage.

The girls, with little education and almost no support, turned down marriage proposals and faced the anger of their families and the community. Their stories of courage impressed the President so much that she got them invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

They earned praise from the President, who described them as “icons” and asked them to share their stories and encourage girls to say no to under-age marriages. ...

“It is a very big honour to be here and meet the President. The last time we were here in 2008, before leaving home we were taunted by the community members. But when we returned with Madam's [President] blessings, everyone was impressed,” said Afsana, a Class VI student who hit the headlines in 2008 for calling off her wedding.

Labels: child marriage, children, girls, India

VOTE

A leading international rights group on Thursday urged authorities in Yemen to set 18 as the minimum age for marriage to improve girls' opportunities for education and protect their human rights.

Human Rights Watch said widespread child marriage in the Arab world's poorest country jeopardizes Yemeni girls' health and keeps them second-class citizens.

A report by the New York-based group said Yemeni government and U.N. data showed that in some rural areas of Yemen, girls as young as eight were married off. Some have told HRW they were subjected to marital rape and domestic abuse.

HRW researcher Nadya Khalife said a ban on child marriage should be a priority for reform despite Yemen's ongoing turmoil that has relegated such issues to "the bottom of the political priority list."

The 54-page report was based on field research conducted in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, between August and September 2010, and interviews with more than 30 girls and women who were married off as children, as well as on interviews with members of non-governmental organizations and officials at the ministries of health and education.

According to the report, approximately 14 percent of girls in Yemen are married before the age 15, and 52 percent are married before they are 18 years old.

Labels: child marriage, children, girls, Islam, Yemen

VOTE

Sugandha is conducting a session on raising awareness about the perils of child marriage among a group of schoolgirls. They listen with rapt attention to the didi (elder sister) they all admire. Sugandha came back to school after being married and then thrown out of her in-laws' home when her first-born died.

"Right now I work as a peer educator for a programme called Youth for Change. We arrange meetings and inform people about the ill effects of early marriages. Moreover, we have been successful in stopping a few child marriages," she says proudly.

Sugandha lives in Uttar Pradesh – one of the largest states in India – where 40% of girls are married before the age of 18, according to the District Level Household and Facility Survey – 3. Uttar Pradesh is among the top five states in India when it comes to rates of child marriage. Development indicators are among the lowest, and poverty, gender discrimination and migration have a big impact on child marriage and on the health of girls and young women.

Many rationalisations are made for marrying girls young, even though the marriage of those under 18 has been illegal since 1929, ie since the era of the British rule in India.

Labels: child marriage, India

VOTE

Saudi Arabia has a serious child-marriage problem.

It's emblematic of the nation's struggle between modernity and traditional Islam. But the lives of thousands of little girls are being destroyed as the Saudi government ponderously debates a solution.

Child marriage has been acceptable, even encouraged, in many Islamic states since the religion was born. After all, among the Prophet Muhammad's dozen wives was Aisha, who is believed to have been 6 or 7 years old when the two were married. But in Saudi Arabia, at least, the practice slammed headlong into modern values last spring, when a Saudi court refused to nullify the marriage of an 8-year-old girl from Unaiza to a man in his late 50s. ...

Saudi Arabia is hardly the only state facing this problem. Last year, Turkey made it legal for 12-year-olds to marry, if their parents agree. The Turkish Statistical Institute estimates that one-third of the state's brides are under 18. In Yemen and Bangladesh, even among some sects in Burma, child marriage is commonplace. The victims, in those places and elsewhere: Little girls who are forced into wasted, often miserable, lives.

Labels: child marriage, children, Islam, religion, Saudi Arabia, Turkey

VOTE