Child Marriage in South Sudan
The Human Rights Watch posted an article saying that the government in South Sudan needs to try to protect girls from being forced into marriages at a young age. This also increases the wide range between girls in school versus boys and increases the amount of maternal death rates. This also takes away the rights of these girls to live free of violence and to marry when they willing. Almost half of young girls (South Sudanese) are married between the ages of 15 and 19, and some even marrying at the age of 12. This report stated the various consequences of these children being forced to marry. One problem is the small amount of protection for victims of an abusive marriage or girls who attempt to resist marriage. Girls that were interviewed told the Human Rights Watch that they were often pushed and pressured into the marriage because of their family's want for dowry payments or the suspicion of their daughters having per-marital sex. One girl, name Ageer, spoke of her incident with forced marriage. She said that when she refused to marry she was beaten, and took her to the man where he forced her to have sex with him. After that she had no choice but to stay there. Many of these girls need education because most are not aware of the fact that they can get help. Those who resist are often punished by their families verbally, physically, and sometimes even killed. A 17-year-old girl was told by her father that she was to marry an old man who would pay a dowry to her family. When she refused she was taken into the woods where she was tied to a tree and beaten to death. Early marriage does not allow girls to continue their education and can often lead to much violence and abuse. Early marriage also has a negative affect on their health. It was said, by the Human Rights Watch, that continuing to allow child marriage "constrains the education, health, security, and economic progress of women and girls, their families, and their communities." Being married at an early age increases the chance of death or illness due to pregnancy and giving birth. Because their bodies are not always physically ready to give birth they are at a higher risk of life-threatening complications than that of older women. The fact that there is limited prenatal and postnatal health services increases these risks as well.
The Human Rights Watch suggests that the government the minimum age for marriage at 18. It also suggests ratify the CEDAW, CRC, and other treaties for human rights. In addition it was recommended that legislation be passed on "marriage, separation, and divorce." They added that the following actions also need to be addressed: create a national action plan that addresses the issues of marrying off children, how child marriage cases should be handled, have training for officials about the legal rights of these girls, have a campaign to increase awareness of the harms of early marriages, try to attain reforms of laws on marriage, separation, and divorce, and finally create policies that will help girls and women who want help in fighting forced marriages.
This is a violation of basic human rights in different ways. For starters, the right to choose whether you will marry or not is a decision that we are allowed to make. Not being able to decide for yourself if you want to marry takes away ones freedom. It also determines what kind of life they can live. Once these children are married their lives are determined by that of their husbands. So in addition their choice in how they live their life is taken away. Early marriage also has negative affects on their health. They are forced into physically destructive situations. Their bodies are not ready for the burden of child bearing and some are also beaten within the marriage. These children are not given their freedom to choose how they will live their lives. Many girls came forward and were interviewed for this report explaining how bad it is for them. Their freedoms have been taken away as well as their right to be protected against any forms of abuse.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/07/south-sudan-end-widespread-child-marriage
Molly Winfree
3/08/13
3:40 pm
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