Child marriage is a formal or informal union involving a child or person under the age of 18. It is currently associated with violations of human rights, particularly the rights of children. The consequences of child marriage are long-term and relate to gender equality, health, and education, among others. Therefore, efforts are being made in national and international jurisdictions to eliminate harmful (traditional) practices. While individual countries have raised the marriageable age to 18, many still allow exceptions. Slovenia is one such example. In this article, the author analyzes the approach to the abolition of child marriage at the international and comparative law levels and is particularly critical of the current Slovenian regime.
Child marriage, which is seen as both a global public health and social problem, is defined as marriage before the age of 18 years. Gender inequality, migration and wars, economic problems, lack of education, and non-deterrent laws are the main causes of child marriage. Child marriage in our country, and other places where child marriage is still commonplace, is a breach of the widely recognized human rights of the child. Prevention of this breach requires effective and target-oriented counter-measures. At the same time, to achieve sustainable change, problems should be analyzed and solutions should be provided with programmed and multi-layered components. It should not be forgotten that “the child is not a bride, the place for the child is in school and the playground." Cite this article as: Dağ H, Yetim A, Ketenci Altıkardeşler Ö, Hançerli Törün S. A child abuse: Marriage at childhood age. Turk Arch Pediatr. 2021; 56(6): 548-552.
Hüseyin Dağ, Aylіn Yetіm, Ozlem Ketenci Altikardesler et al.
Child marriage is a problem which exists and continues in many parts of the world although commitments have been made to discourage it. Earlier research work shows that the incidence of child marriages varies globally. Many factors affect the choice of marriage and age pattern such as globalization, modernization, urbanization; in country migration, social transformation, gender relations; changes in the family joint to nuclear patterns; amendments in laws regarding the institution of marriage and divorce process; and increased involvement and contribution of women in paid labor. This research aims to explore experiences of women who were married at a nearly age. The universe of this research was Karachi city. The researchers used convenience sampling method and purposive and snowball sampling technique to interview100 female respondents married at the early age of 12-17years. The study shows that majority of child marriages/early marriages are due to traditional practices. Most of them belong to low-income families and were illiterate. Although these women got married in early age, they intend to marry their daughters after 18 years of age. Findings conclude that however there are significant steps taken to demotivate child marriage worldwide, the Government of Pakistan and other organizations working toward women wellbeing, need to create an enabling environment and de-motivate not only the parents, but the community members against child marriages.
Dr. Shagufta Nasreen, Aliyah Ali, Dr. Syed Karim Bux Shah
Despite dramatic reductions in child marriage over the past decade, more than one in four girls in India still marry before reaching age 18. This practice is driven by a complex interplay of social and normative beliefs and values that are inadequately represented in national- or even state-level analyses of the drivers of child marriage. A geographic lens was employed to assess variations in child marriage prevalence across Indian districts, identify hot and cold spots, and quantify spatial dependence and heterogeneity in factors associated with district levels of child marriage. Data were derived from the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey and the 2011 India Census, and represent 636 districts in total. Analyses included global Moran's I, LISAs, spatial Durbin regression and geographically weighted regression. This study finds wide inter- and intra-state heterogeneity in levels of child marriage across India. District levels of child marriage were strongly influenced by geographic characteristics, and even more so by the geographic characteristics of neighboring districts. Districts with higher levels of female mobile phone access and newspaper use had lower levels of child marriage. These relationships, however, were all subject to substantial local spatial heterogeneity. The results indicate that characteristics of neighboring districts, as well as characteristics of a district itself, are important in explaining levels of child marriage, and that those relationships are not constant across India. Child marriage reduction programs that are targeted within specific administrative boundaries may thus be undermined by geographic delineations that do not necessarily reflect the independent and interdependent characteristics of the communities who live therein. The geographic, social and normative characteristics of local communities are key considerations in future child marriage programs and policies.
Lotus McDougal, Holly Baker Shakya, Nabamallika Dehingia et al.
BACKGROUND: Prior research documents that India has the greatest number of girls married as minors of any nation in the world, increasing social and health risks for both these young wives and their children. While the prevalence of child marriage has declined in the nation, more work is needed to accelerate this decline and the negative consequences of the practice. Expanded targets for intervention require greater identification of these targets. Machine learning can offer insight into identification of novel factors associated with child marriage that can serve as targets for intervention. METHODS: We applied machine learning methods to retrospective cross-sectional survey data from India on demographics and health, the nationally-representative National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2015-16. We analyzed data using a traditional regression model, with child marriage as the dependent variable, and 4000+ variables from the survey as the independent variables. We also used three commonly used machine learning algorithms- Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (lasso) or L-1 regularized logistic regression models; L2 regularized logistic regression or ridge models; and neural network models. Finally, we developed and applied a novel and rigorous approach involving expert qualitative review and coding of variables generated from an iterative series of regularized models to assess thematically key variable groupings associated with child marriage. FINDINGS: Analyses revealed that regularized logistic and neural network applications demonstrated better accuracy and lower error rates than traditional logistic regression, with a greater number of features and variables generated. Regularized models highlight higher fertility and contraception, longer duration of marriage, geographic, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities as key correlates; findings shown in prior research. However, our novel method involving expert qualitative coding of variables generated from iterative regularized models and resultant thematic generation offered clarity on variables not focused upon in prior research, specifically non-utilization of health system benefits related to nutrition for mothers and infants. INTERPRETATION: Machine learning appears to be a valid means of identifying key correlates of child marriage in India and, via our innovative iterative thematic approach, can be useful to identify novel variables associated with this outcome. Findings related to low nutritional service uptake also demonstrate the need for more focus on public health outreach for nutritional programs tailored to this population.
Anita Raj, Nabamallika Dehingia, Abhishek Singh et al.
Abstract Child marriages, often attributed to culture and gender inequality, are prevalent across Africa. Several countries have moved to criminalise the practice. At the core of the criminalisation debate are the fundamental tensions between statutory (state) law on the one hand, and religious and customary law on the other. The growing momentum towards punishment, targeted almost invariably at male offenders, is meant to address the conflict between cultural practices that lead to child marriage and the protection of children's rights. However, some countries have not criminalised child marriage. Thus, the outlawry of child marriages is not universal on the continent. The agitation towards criminalisation—I describe this as ‘popular punitvism’ ‐ as a panacea, is animated by Western penological justifications, principally, deterrence. However, Western criminological and penological theories may not fully account for a phenomenon in other social and geographical spaces. The paper argues for decolonising and decriminalising child marriages in Africa but not legalising it.
Adolescence is an important time for promoting health and preventing disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adolescent as an individual in the 10-19 years age group and usually uses the term young person to denote those between 10 and 24 years. Adolescent health encompasses changing transitions within multiple domains, including the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and intellectual. These changes have important implications for health. During this period of increasing independence, adolescents face critical choices about health-related behaviors in areas such as sexuality, physical activity, diet, and use of health care services. These behaviors affect health during adolescence and young adulthood and, in the long-term, are related to many of the leading causes of adult morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the protection and promotion of health during this life stage is of great importance and has been shown to yield benefits not only for adolescents now, but also for their future adult lives and for their future children. This paper explore two key issues underpinning adolescent health, teen pregnancy, and child marriage. Trends in early marriage and early childbearing help determine national poverty levels and economic productivity. Decisions about whether to remain in school, whether to marry, or whether to engage in sexual activity have implications for education and health. The paper argues that failure to understand the interrelationship between adolescent pregnancy and child marriage may jeopardize earlier investments in maternal and child health, erodes future quality and length of life, and escalates suffering, inequality, and social instability. Keywords: Adolescent Health, Child Marriage, Teen Pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE: We evaluate whether community norms, caregiver beliefs, and adolescents' own beliefs and perceptions, focused on early marriage, predict adolescent marriage aspirations in a low-income context. BACKGROUND: The processes that contribute to adolescent marriage aspiration formation have received little attention in low-income contexts, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding how marriage aspirations are formed is important because they are associated with critical education and health outcomes. METHOD: Using data that links Malawian adolescents (N=2,089) with their caregivers (N=1,452), we analyze gender stratified ordered logistic regression models to examine key relationships. RESULTS: We show that community norms for youngest acceptable marriage age predict when boys want to marry, but do not find conclusive evidence that they predict when girls want to marry. We also show that adolescents who believe it is acceptable to marry at an early age are more likely to want to marry early themselves. CONCLUSION: Both community norms and adolescents' own beliefs are central to the formation of their marriage aspirations. IMPLICATIONS: We recommend that programs incorporate adolescent beliefs and perceptions when designing child marriage interventions and measuring their impact. We also recommend theory-driven measurement of community norms to better evaluate their impact on both marriage aspirations and marriage age.
Fatima Tu Zahra, Rachel C. Kidman, Hans‐Peter Kohler
Child marriage is a major concern we read in Pashto poetry. They believe fewer financial resources left people in desperate need to survive, and it has caused both girls and boys to pay the price. Poor parents give away their girls to wealthy men regardless their background check and that child marriage is one of the tragedies that got the attention of Pashto language poets. Before to read poems about child marriage, explanation is needed to the age which is considered as child. According to Afghanistan Civil Law a legal age for a female is 16 and 18 for male. It means a girl can marry at the age of sixteen and a boy at eighteen. It also means a child in Afghanistan is no longer a child as soon he/she reaches 16 and 18. UNFPA reported that child marriages are illegal because both partners did not cross the age they were prescribed by the law. Afghanistan’s minimum age of marriage 16 or 18 is well below the internationally recommended standard of 18. Child marriages are usually aimed at strengthening ties with rival families and tribes, as part of deals or to settle blood feuds and disputes. At the meantime, a financially poor families often end up selling daughters for large dowries that is offered by wealthy mean who by age or much older.
Ahmad Gul Momand, Zabihullah Fikry, Mohammad Qaseem Kashaf
Child marriage in Indonesia is a recurring reality in society. Early marriage is a form of gender inequality, especially for women. Globally, 21 percent of women living in 2020 were married before the age of 18, and 12 million girls under 18 are married each year, or about 23 girls married as children every minute. Various reasons for the high rate of early marriage are not only due to educational, economic, and stigmatizing factors but also due to the low understanding of adolescents about reproductive health, which causes adolescents to have no choice, especially for adolescent girls. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of "MOLKESPRO" monopoly media on adolescents' knowledge about reproductive health. The design of this study was pre-experimental with a pre-post-test design approach. Using the purposive sampling technique, the population was grade 6 elementary school students, as many as 31. In this study, the instrument used was a questionnaire about reproductive health—data analysis using a paired t-test. The results showed that the respondents' knowledge got the less category (35 percent) before being given health education and got a good knowledge category (81 percent) after being given health education. The results obtained p value less than 0.000 (0.000 less than a). Therefore, there is an effect of "MOLKESPRO" on the knowledge of early adolescents about reproductive health. Thus, the "MOLKESPRO" monopoly media can be used by midwives and other health workers in providing health education to early adolescents related to reproductive health, this is because its attractive design can make students enthusiastic to learn materials about reproductive health using the atmosphere created with fun.
Ulfa Nur Khasanah, Sheilla Tania Marcelina, Herawati Mansur
