Today, Wednesday 10/8/2022, the Research and Studies Unit at the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue Foundation issued a report entitled:
Underage marriage is a continuous violation of women’s rights.
Case study: Mauritania – Nigeria – Iraq
The report monitored the importance and danger of underage marriage, as it is one of the crimes committed against women
The report emphasized that underage marriage is one of the scourges prevalent in our Arab and African societies, and despite many international conventions and local laws criminalizing this phenomenon that befall these girls, these wrong habits and practices are still practiced so far in many countries around the world. .
The report dealt with a number of themes, the most important of which are:
First: the reasons and motives for the marriage of minors.
The report indicated that most families resort to marrying off their daughters at a young age to get rid of their responsibilities, or to comply with the system of customs and traditions.
And some of them marry off their daughters as a result of poverty, where poverty is one of the most important reasons leading to the marriage of underage girls. There are many poor areas where parents resort to marrying off their daughters, due to the inability to support them, and to reduce the financial burden of a family member, or as a result of the ignorance that spreads Between parents, as he pushes them to marry off their daughters at an early age without realizing that she is still young, and she will not be able to bear the responsibility of marriage with all its consequences.
Parents may have social fears, as parents fear that their daughter will not marry and enter into the so-called spinsterhood, or fear that their girl will be exposed to a problem related to honor, and some of them rely on the wrong cultural legacies, specifically in rural areas, this kind of Marriage, as they see it as acceptable in the customs of these tribes, and its completion is subject to the wishes of parents without paying attention to girls and their desires.
Second: The negative effects and consequences of underage marriage:
The report dealt with the negative psychological, health and social effects of underage marriage.
The impact on the health of the girl, where health problems occur as a result of the uterus not adapting to pregnancy: which leads to premature birth or an increase in caesarean sections, hence the high death rate and the emergence of deformities in the spine or pelvis due to early pregnancy, exposure to violence because girls who marry are linked Many studies have shown that the rate of divorce and separation increases in cases of early marriage. In addition to the deprivation of individual rights, early marriage violates many private individual rights such as the right In education, the right to protection from physical violence and the right to work.
Third: Practical examples of African countries where the phenomenon of underage marriage is widespread.
The report sheds light on this issue in three African countries (Mauritania – Nigeria – Iraq). The report explained the reasons that led to the spread of this phenomenon in those countries, with solutions and proposals presented, the most important of which are the recommendations of the United Nations to the governments of those countries to limit the spread of the phenomenon in those countries.
The report concluded that a minor may be forced to marry for multiple motives and for different reasons, intersecting with the absence of legal texts that deter those who force a minor girl to marry, and this is done in an environment where the educational and educational level is declining.
Underage marriage is a type of gender-based violence, as this violence is limited to girls in forcing them to marry without their will or consent having any role in the completion of the marriage. For a decent life.
