Every year, 15 million girls are married as child brides. Simultaneously, their wellbeing and health is threatened and they are robbed of the common and expected rights that most women are privileged enough to have.
1. Innocence
Imagine being wed to an older man, perhaps a widower or rapist, (as is often the case in many third world countries) at twelve or thirteen years old, or even younger. Now, think back to what your life was like when you were a pre-teen. Although adolescence is less than a fun experience for most people, the beauty of it is learning about the world all the while still being able to act like the child you are. Feeling carefree and seeing the world from a child’s perspective is magical. So, when innocence is ripped away and young women are forced to marry, they are expected to grow up at an incredibly fast rate. Their innocence, and everything else that makes childhood so wonderful, no longer exists.
2. Connections with loved ones
Since many young girls are married off in business deals, it is a common occurrence that the men they marry relocate them, purposefully to remove any feelings connected with the family and friends they leave behind. If this is not personally relatable, think about college students. Oftentimes, they feel homesick when they are cities, states or countries away. Yet, college students know that they will see their loved ones again. For child brides, the opportunity to return to familiarity, or even simply their home, is typically not a reality.
3. Value as a human being
The history of slavery is a staple topic that is taught in schools around the world. However, few are aware that slavery, in multiple forms, still exists. To be a child bride is to essentially be living a life of servitude. Their bodies are used to produce further generations in addition to recreational pleasure. Not only that, but since the young girls are often traded for money or other goods, they become part of a consumer culture where goods are valued higher than the mind, personality and goodness of a human being.
4. Individuality
As young brides marry, their ability to emotionally, mentally and physically become their own person is taken from them. Since child marriage essentially ensures that girls become someone else’s property (especially in countries where women do not have nearly the same rights and opportunities as men), they do not grow as individuals during the time in their lives where children are expected to develop most.
5. Freedom
Most people grow up expecting to own their own house, get a degree, have a career, travel the world, have a family and experience their lives the way they want to. For child brides, that is not the case. Their marriage nearly guarantees that the girls’ lives will be dictated by their husbands until one of them dies. It is very much an approval-based arrangement, where whatever the girl does must be approved prior to her doing it.