The Startling Truth about Child Marriages
In today’s society, women have become increasingly blessed with the opportunity to make choices about what we want in our personal lives. We are able to define ourselves beyond traditional gender roles as we pursue our individual dreams and passions. As we embrace these opportunities, it is just as important we recognize there are so many other women and girls who never have the choice to become more than wives and mothers. When they are forced into child marriages, these women lose any sense of choice.
Defined as any formal marriage or informal union before the age of 18, child marriage is an issue that affects thousands of minors daily. If trends continue, it’s predicted that 142 million children will be married around the world by 2020. Though this number includes boys, most of these children will be young girls. In fact, about 15 million girls become child brides every year, which makes an average of 28 in one minute.
Unfortunately, the effects of child marriage have a negative influence in these girls’ lives as they mature into women. Most young brides are wed to husbands who are much older and who are often physically, sexually, and mentally abusive. In addition to such abuse, these girls are more susceptible to childbirth complications and HIV/AIDS. Many child brides are forced to leave their families and drop out of school once they marry. They often become isolated from any familiar community and any resources that will help them obtain their basic rights to accessible healthcare, safety, and secondary education.
One of the biggest reasons child marriages still occur lies in perpetuated gender inequality. In many cultures, it’s common for male lives to be considered more valuable than female lives. As a result, young women may be treated more as property than as humans. This attitude often contributes to many child marriages. Families often marry off their daughters for a profit in times of economic distress.
It’s frustrating and heartbreaking to see girls not much younger than ourselves being coerced into lives of misery and discrimination. Together, we can start a conversation about the distressing reality of child marriages and open eyes to how detrimental issues like gender inequality really are. This may not seem like much in the wake of such a huge issue, but it was enough to help pass recent legislation in Virginia to protect children from staggering child marriage rates by protecting their rights as minors. If we can come together to make a significant difference in our own country, then it’s more than possible to do so elsewhere in the world.