Afghanistan – Child Brides

WUNRN

 

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CHILD
BRIDES IN AFGHANISTAN:

 

Overview
of Situation, Challenges and Options

 

By:
Dr. Massouda Jalal[1][1]

 

 

Betrothal of girls is pervasive
in Afghanistan.  According to the
Ministry of Public Health’s Mortality Survey that was conducted in all
provinces of the country in 2010, 53 percent of all women in the 25 to 49 age
group were married by age 18, and 21 percent were married by age 15[2][2].  A report on Child Marriage in Southern Asia
conducted by the International Center for Research on Women, Australian Aid and
UNFPA states that 57 percent of Afghan girls are married before they turn 16
and 60 to 80 percent of them were forced into such unions by their families[3][3].  

 

 

Marriage of girl children
seriously impedes the full development of Afghan girls’ potentials. They are
forced to stop schooling, take care of their husband, children and aging
in-laws, and assume multiple domestic responsibilities which are particularly
onerous in Afghanistan because the supply of water, power, and other living
amenities are nearly non-existent in most rural areas.   The alarmingly high incidence of maternal
mortality in Afghanistan is also an aftermath of girl marriages. Many teen
mothers perish due to underdeveloped reproductive system, poor health
awareness, inaccessible health services, and lack of female health
practitioners that are needed in a society which does not allow female patients
to be treated by male physicians.  A 2010
report reveals that maternal mortality in the country is ten times higher than
civilian deaths caused by armed conflict. On top of these, girl wives are
constantly victimized by violence perpetrated by their husband and in-laws.
Aside from domestic slavery, they may also be forced to provide sexual services
to other men, coerced into untimely and frequent pregnancy, and denied of
fundamental rights such as proper food, shelter, access to education and health,
mobility and decision making.

 

 

The persistence of child bride
practice is fuelled by many factors.  A
culture of patriarchy that relegates Afghan women to a lifetime of
subordination makes their situation one of the worst in the world[4][4]
– generally discriminated in opportunities and allocation of family resources,
overburdened by domestic responsibilities, vulnerable to violence inside and
outside their homes, and denied of their rights to inheritance, mobility,
education, decision making, and participation in public life.  It is this debased status of women that
legitimizes the authority of parents to marry off girls before reaching the
legally mandated age.  Girl brides fetch high
dowry and girls who refuse face the risk of being murdered by their family
members. Moreover, it is considered disgraceful for an Afghan woman to grow old
without being offered a marriage proposal.

 

 

Likewise, the poor state
of Afghan economy reinforces the practice of girl child marriage. The economic
base of many Afghan families was eroded by long years of armed conflict. During
the war, families used up their savings moving from place to place, often
without sources of livelihood and economic support. Earning opportunities
vanished along with peoples’ skills and economic capital.  Thus, where earnings from agriculture and
livestock are inadequate, marriage of girls loomed as a convenient economic
alternative.  Child brides command a
higher dowry because youth is equated with purity, innocence, freshness, and
better reproductive capacity. Besides, a child-wife is far easier to subdue,
manipulate, exploit and abuse.   Parents
may also be motivated to marry off their girl daughters to repay debt, settle
conflicts, or boost the family’s social standing.

 

 

A weak rule of law is another
major factor that sustains the practice of girl child marriage.  Many years of lawlessness has been making it
difficult for government to bring citizens under the rule of law. People have
been so used to living the traditional way of life where unlawful acts may be
legitimized through complicity of community religious leaders.  Lack of awareness of the law, weak
implementation mechanisms, and strong influence of fundamentalism continue to
make the law useless, leaving girls with little or no protection at all when
betrothed by their parents. Afghan civil law provides that a girl cannot marry
until she is 16 unless her father chooses her to marry at 15. However, in
reality, Afghan girls are married much earlier, even as early as 9 years old.  All of these are considered to be under
coercion since children do not have the legal capacity to give consent to their
own marriage. Although child and forced marriages are prohibited under the
decree on the Elimination of Violence against Women, no parent has ever been
punished for marrying off their girl daughters and traditions are obviously
stronger than the political commitment to implement the law.

 

 

With the transformation of the
family abode as a main site of violence against women, recourse for victims has
been limited.  Shelters and services are
inaccessible, police and justice systems work against female complainants, and
society expects wives to endure in silence the oppression they experience from
their husband and relatives. Unfortunately,
Afghanistan’s current political climate does not leave much room to be
optimistic on the options that could be taken to stop the practice of child
marriage.  The on-going peace process is
bringing back the Taliban whose increasing influence threatens to erode the
gains that Afghan women generated during the past 12 years. The international
security support is also scheduled to leave the country by the end of
2014.  People are more pessimistic these
days but losing hope is not an option.

 

 

To
address the situation, women’s groups must persist in championing and
monitoring the status of women’s situation in Afghanistan.  On the part of the government, the
prohibition on underage marriage should be enforced strictly.  Authorities who officiate
marriages must be sensitized and held accountable, together with parents who
prematurely betroth their daughters and sons. To demonstrate the illegal nature
of this practice, the government should jail parents and mullahs who legitimize
underage marriages.  Registration of
application for marriages should also be strictly enforced so that authorities
could intervene to prevent the child bride practice.  Alternative economic opportunities for
families must be made available to parents who choose to desist from child
bride practice. There should also be college scholarships for young girls that
are tied up to a condition that they will not be married until the college
education is completed.  Women NGOs,
government agencies, and human rights bodies must collaborate to pursue a
community based rescue program for girls who are forced into marriage by their
parents.

 

 

People
should collectively promote women’s rights in all possible areas of life,
especially within families. Families should transform gender dynamics within
family members and socialize girls and boys to a culture that is based on
mutual respect and support.   Classroom
lessons and associations of parents and teachers must take up child marriage as
a priority issue for collective action. Media should educate the public on the
legal prohibitions against child marriage and religious leaders should be
targeted as advocates for its prevention.

 

 

The
international community should continue to follow up closely the events and
developments, and oppose all forms of Afghan women’s oppression. All funding
support to the peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan should be linked to
women’s advancement and help in holding the Afghan government accountable for
its continuing failure to protect, fulfill, and promote the rights of women and
children.  The solution may not happen
easily but it could begin now.