Besides India and Nepal, the top 15 of the 17 top countries are nations of African Savages. Its not pretty that India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan are sitting next to them claiming to have world's most advanced civilizations. Change, change, change ...!
--- On Wed, 9/10/08, Ezajur Rahman <ezajur.rahman@q8.com> wrote:
Bangladesh has record number
of child brides: report
Courtesy New Age 10/9/08 Shahidul Islam Chowdhury Bangladesh has the highest number of child brides, forcing them to an abrupt end to their education and a greater chance of violence and abuse and increased risk of HIV and maternal death.
'In Bangladesh, which ranks number one, more than half of all girls (52.5 per cent) are married before they turn 16,' according to a report the World Vision, an international NGO.
According to the report titled 'Before She's Ready,' the proportion of child marriage is 37.6 per cent in Niger , and 34.9 per cent in Chad .
Other countries included in the top 15 are Ethiopia , India , Nigeria , Mauritania , Mali , Guinea , Mozambique , Cameroon , Eritrea , Uganda , Nepal and Nicaragua .
In many countries, including Bangladesh , where a legal minimum age for marriage is fixed, it is 18 or above for both males and females, in accordance with the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which establishes legal adulthood at 18 years.
But around the world, an estimated 3,500 girls under the age of 15 become child brides every day, while 21,000 more get married before reaching the age of 18.
'The ultimate result of early marriage is that children raise children, compromising the well-being of both generations. An impoverished young mother, inexperienced and untrained in child rearing, is at high risk to have children who are malnourished and unhealthy,' said the report.
Elaborating the immediate consequence of child marriage, the report said a girl forced to marry early was a 'social misfit' because she fit in neither with children nor with adult women.
'She does not get to enjoy the games and fun that other children enjoy. She is removed from her family and taken to live with a man who is rarely of her own age or choosing… Her behaviour changes in relation to the change of her status so that she becomes a woman with the mentality of a child, or a woman in some ways but [a child] in others.'
Her husband and in-laws demand prompt and repeated childbearing, a task for which her body and mind may be unprepared; she is likely to experience early and forced sexual intercourse without protection, exposing her to potential injury and infection, the report said. In child bearing, she is more likely than a woman, who marries later to experience complications, give birth to an underweight or stillborn baby or die.
'Their future and the future of their children are compromised as cycles of poverty, illness and ignorance are perpetuated. The costs are borne at multiple levels: by families, communities, societies and nations,' the report said.
Describing the causes of early marriage, the report said local cultures and traditions influence the way the custom of early marriage is practised in different regions. Poverty, lack of education and guidance and the stress of maintaining the home all contribute to girls marrying early.
The only available act that deals with the marriage of under-aged children is the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1948, which defines a child as a male under 21 years or a female under 18 years old.
According to Section 4 of the act, the maximum punishment for a male marrying a child younger than 18 years is simply a fine of Tk 1,000 and one month's imprisonment.
Section 6 has similar punishment for other people involved in the marriage like the parents of the children and the registrars who administer the marriage.
The women and children affairs adviser, Rasheda K Chowdhury, however, believes the law alone was not enough to deal with the prevalence of early marriage. 'Early marriage is, in a way, child repression. We need to change people's mind by making them educated and conscious and by involving local communities such as local government
representatives,' she told New Age. 'It is, in fact, a challenge for all including the state and society.'
The birth registration and introduction of the national identity cards could help to contain early marriage, she said. |