Hardest hit shift: from South Asia to Africa
In India, 6 out of every 10 women aged 20-24 were forced to marry before the age of 18 in the 1990s.
This is not only a gender or human rights issue, but also related to the development of India's population, health, education, economy and other aspects. For girls, they almost lose educational opportunities after marriage, and they are even treated as fertility machines and suffer tangible or invisible domestic violence; for babies, their underdeveloped mothers cannot provide them with adequate nutrition. This leads to a high probability of stillbirth, premature birth or premature death, and the resulting low-quality labor will further restrict the development of India's economy.
Breakthrough
On October 11, 2017, the Supreme Court of India issued a historic ruling, stating that as long as having sex with a minor under the age of 18 means rape, even if the two are already married. In an interview with the New York Times, Indian women’s rights activist Jagmati Sangwan said that this ruling will encourage more girls to stand up for their legal rights and will also help reduce trafficking of young women. For India, where child marriage is extremely serious, this is a milestone development.
bottleneck
Nevertheless, India still has a long way to go on the road to eliminating child marriage. If they want to reach the goal of Global Programme to End Child Marriage in 2030, which was advocated by United Nations, they will need to work four times more than this decade. Moreover, due to the economy and unemployment crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, more girls will be considered as the financial burden of family, thus forced to get married for money. The proliferation of child marriage cases in this special period makes the goal even more remote.
Africa is also struggling to end child marriage. It is the world's center of child marriage after South Asia, and also the region with the most serious child marriage problem today.
Today, more than 75 million young women between the ages of 20 and 24 are married before the age of 18, and a quarter of them are in Africa. If this trend continues, by 2050, almost half of the world’s girl brides will be in Africa.On the African continent, there are more than 700 million women, of whom approximately 125 million have been or are experiencing child marriage. Among the 10 countries with the highest rate of child marriage in the world, Africa occupies 9 seats. Almost every African country is facing severe challenges brought by child marriage.
In Tanzania, girls are the "equivalent currency" in exchange for livestock.
At the scene of a bride price negotiation, the 13-year-old girl Maasa’s mother said: “In our society, it is more important to get cows than to keep daughters at home. I also have sons, who will get married one day and bring other girls home. So there will be girls in our family." "Traditionally, cows are more valuable than daughters." Maasa's grandmother added. In this country with the lowest per capita income in the world, livestock is not only a means for peasants to pay the bride price and a symbol of wealth, but may also be the basis for their survival in times of natural disasters and crop failures.
The resistance is going on fiercely and slowly.
In May 2018, the 19-year-old Sudanese girl Nura Hussein was sentenced to death for rebelling against marital rape, which aroused widespread concern about child marriage and marital rape in African countries and even the entire international community. In June of the same year, with the help of lawyers and huge pressure from public opinion, the Sudanese court revoked the death sentence and commuted the sentence to five years in prison. This incident is regarded as a "catalyst" for reforming injustices such as child marriage and marital rape, and provides a path for handling similar incidents.
Note: Female child marriage rate: the percentage of women aged 20-24 who married or lived together before the age of 18.
Source: Adolescent girls WCAR brochure English 2019.
In fact, in the past two decades, the education opportunities of girls and the process of gender equality in West and Central Africa have been advancing, and more child marriages are being prevented.
Fifteen years ago, only four countries in Africa had child marriage rates below 10%; today, child marriage rates in seven African countries are below 10%.
On the road to ending child marriage, Africa is moving forward with heavy burdens.
Note: Female child marriage rate: the percentage of women aged 20-24 who married or lived together before the age of 18.
Source: Child Marriage Africa Brochure online version (2018).
male child marriage: undercurrents
