We must come together to end child marriage
Many girls and a smaller number of boys enter into marriage without any chance of exercising their right to choose.
Most of the girls at risk of child marriage are from poor households in rural areas. The world is, however, making inroads in the war on such outdated practices. Yet, to end the practice by 2030, the target set in the Sustainable Development Goals, we must do better.
Marriage is a matter of choice. Yet many girls, and a smaller number of boys, enter into marriage without any chance of exercising their right to choose.
Others are simply too young to make an informed decision about their marriage partner or about the implications of marriage itself. They may have given what passes for ‘consent’ in customary law, but in reality, consent to their binding union has been made by others on their behalf.
The assumption is that once a girl is married, she has become a woman even if she is only 12. Equally, where a boy is forced to marry, he is considered an adult.
The right to consent to a marriage is recognised in the constitution in Article 8, right to access to justice and equal protection before the law. Article 55 obligates the state to take measures, such as developing affirmative action programmes, to ensure the youth are protected from harmful cultural practices. Although marriage is not mentioned directly in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, child marriage is linked to freedom of expression, the right to protection from all forms of abuse, and the right to protection from harmful practices. It’s frequently addressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Economic arrangement
Consent cannot be ‘free and full’ when at least one partner is immature. For both girls and boys, early marriage has shown physical, psychological and emotional impacts, cutting off educational opportunities and chances of growth. For girls, it will almost certainly mean premature pregnancy and childbearing, and is likely to lead to a lifetime of domestic and sexual subservience.
Yet many African societies continue to support the idea that girls should marry at or soon after puberty. Their spouses are likely to be much older. Parents and heads of families make marital choices for daughters and sons with little regard for the personal implications.
Rather, they look upon marriage as a family-building strategy, an economic arrangement or a way to protect girls from unwelcome sexual advances. We must all come together to end child marriage.
