By: Reena Ghelani / Newsweek
Translation: Telegrafi.com
Every three seconds, a girl is married before she turns 18. Twelve million girls are married as children every year - 12 million childhoods interrupted.
That’s what happened to Binita in Nepal. Married at age 13 to a man 11 years her senior, Binita said abuse is common in relationships like the one she experienced. Stripped of autonomy and opportunities, married girls are more likely to experience intimate partner violence. “She is forced to stay at home, even if she is beaten or unhappy,” says Binita, now 18.
Like Binita, girls around the world face serious risks when they marry as children. They are forced into sexual intercourse before their bodies and minds are ready – often without access to contraception, knowledge about their bodies and rights, or reproductive health services. Child marriage often ends a girl’s education – with 87 percent of married adolescents globally out of school. This limits girls’ opportunities and their ability to build a future.
In new research from Plan International, we spoke to 250 girls and young women from around the world to understand what it means to be married as a child. Together, their stories help us understand why this harmful practice remains so entrenched in many communities.
Most of the girls we spoke to come from countries that have passed laws against child marriage, but – paradoxically – efforts to outlaw child marriage are increasingly leading to the formation of informal cohabitations. These unregistered relationships, where couples live together as spouses without legal recognition, leave girls without protection, without custody rights and without access to support in the event of abuse.
Our research also shows that digital spaces are changing the way child marriage is occurring. Social media is creating new opportunities for young people to form relationships outside of parental control. This may feel like self-determination for some girls, but beneath this “choice” can be manipulation and exploitation – which quickly spills over from the internet into real life – by much older men.
At the same time, we heard stories of extraordinary strength and resilience. In Cambodia, Canada was 17 years old when she learned she was getting married. She was still in school, still a child, but her future had already been decided. Marriage at that age could have meant the end of her education, her independence, and her right to choose her own future.
But that wasn't the end of her story. With the support of Plan International, Canada enrolled in a motorcycle repair course - the only girl in the class. She defied stereotypes that this job was not for women, ignored the skeptics and eventually opened a garage. Today, she earns an income that gives her a measure of independence, while dreaming of employing other women. She firmly believes that girls can do the same work as boys.
Canada's story gives us a glimpse into what is possible when girls have choices beyond marriage. The lessons from her experience and those of other girls are clear.
First, we must continue to challenge the harmful beliefs that make child marriage acceptable as something “normal.”
In many communities, it is justified as a form of protection - of a girl's honor, family reputation or economic security. In reality, it is a violation of her rights. We need to transform the beliefs that keep girls trapped, and men and boys need to be part of that change.
Secondly, girls need real alternatives.
The surest protection against child marriage is opportunity. Keeping girls in school, providing them with job skills, and ensuring they have access to health care and contraception makes all the difference - because a girl with a choice is much less likely to marry early. But even married girls need to know their rights and ways to build a future for themselves. We need to make sure that every girl - married or at risk - has access to education, training, health care, contraception, and someone to turn to for help.
Third, laws must be enforced and loopholes closed.
There is growing international consensus that the minimum age for marriage should be 18, as a key step towards ending child marriage. But legal loopholes and weak enforcement leave millions of girls vulnerable. As a result, child marriage continues in the shadows. Informal cohabitation, although often invisible to the law, must be recognized as a form of child marriage and treated with equal care to protect every girl in practice, not just on paper.
Canada's Garage is a testament to what is possible when a girl has the opportunity to choose her own future. The question now is: will we act with the urgency required to ensure that every girl has the same freedom? /Telegraph/
