Why Early Marriages of Girls Need To Be Stopped In Rural Areas of Pakistan?

“Fourteen-year-old Reem, from Sanaa, was 11 years old when her father married her to her cousin, a man almost 21 years her senior. One day, Reem’s father dressed her in a niqab (the Islamic veil that covers the face, exposing only the eyes), and took her by car to Radda, 150 kilometres southeast of Sanaa, to meet her soon-to-be husband. Against Reem’s will, a quick religious marriage ensued. Three days after she was married, her husband raped her. Reem attempted suicide by cutting her wrists with a razor. Her husband took her back to her father in Sanaa, and Reem then ran away to her mother (her parents were divorced). Reem’s mother escorted her to court in an attempt to get a divorce. The judge told her, ‘We don’t divorce little girls.’ Reem replied, ‘But how come you allow little girls to get married?’ ”¹. Incidents like this are not limited to certain area but happen in the whole world. There are many Reems in today’s world who are married at a very early age and some of them are even married without their consent. Marriage before the age of 18 is a reality for many young women². In Pakistan, according to a survey between 2000 and 2011, 24 % of the women were married before the age of 18 years. 29.3 % of these women were from rural areas and 15.6 % were from urban areas³. Out of 24 % women who were married before the age of 18 years, 7 % were married by the age of 15⁴. So according to the statistical data, the proportion of early marriages is more in the rural areas of Pakistan as compared to that of urban areas. In rural areas, early marriages are a result of the custom, culture and tradition of these areas. These marriages include the transfer of money, settlement of loans and even sometimes exchange of girls. They are called as Vani, Swara or Watta Satta. The decision is mainly made by the council of elders of the community i.e. Jirga or Panchayat. The girls who are the victims of these marriages face many problems in their lives. Although marriage is one of the most significant of life events for both men and women, but girls who are married at an early age have less education, begin child-rearing much earlier, and they also have less decision-making power in the household.

Marriage is the start of a totally new life for both men and women and especially for women because they have to leave their parents’ house and then they move into a new family. It is one of the most important events of one’s life and in almost all religions of the world, men and women are married. When it comes to the consent of the men and women for marriage, according to the Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses’, and ‘Men and women of full age are entitled to equal rights as to marriage…’. The United Nations 1962 Convention on the ‘Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration and an Associated Recommendation’ established a minimum age of marriage of no less than 15 years⁵. Under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, legal age for marriage is 18 years for boys and 16 years for girls⁶. The 1979 Convention on the ‘Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ and the 1990 African Charter on the ‘Rights and Welfare of the Child’ suggest a minimum age for marriage of 18 years⁵. In Pakistan, same laws are used and the legal age for marriage is 18 years for boys and 16 years for girls. While under the Special Marriage Act, a girl can be married at an age of 14 years with her parents’ consent⁴. Despite many laws by the government, child marriages are happening in many areas of Pakistan. According to a survey in 1990-1991, 11% of the total women were married at the age below 15 years, 32% were married at the age of 18 years and 49% were married at the age of 20 and above⁷. 56% of the women who were married below the age of 20 years were from rural areas and 36% were from urban areas⁷. In another survey conducted in 2006, out of 3892 women, 15.21% (592 women) were married between the age of 11 to 17 years⁸. And according to a recent survey, 7% of the women were married below the age of 15 years between 2000 and 2011⁴.

“Early marriage, also known as child marriage, is used to describe the legal or customary union between two people, of whom one or both spouses is below the age of 18 (Article 1, Convention of the Rights of the Child, CRC)”⁸. The majority of victims of these marriages are the girls. The major reasons for child marriages are: gender inequality, socio-cultural and religious values, protection of girls’ sexuality and weak law enforcement⁸. Gender discrimination is a major reason for the early marriages of girls. Girls are considered to be less important than boys because boys have to take care of the parents and girls are moved to their in-laws’ houses so they aren’t considered as important as boys of the family. Girls are considered as a burden on the family because they are not considered the part of their family as they have to move to other house. So they are married earlier to lessen the financial expense of the family because ‘the girls are considered a social, economic and religious liability on the families, which need to be disposed off as soon as possible’⁹. Child marriage of girls also happens due to some of the customs and traditions of villages. It is also a route to strengthen family ties and tribal connections or political alliances. Sometimes it acts as a mechanism to settle obligations and sometimes to settle debts or loans⁸. Sometimes the social pressure of the area is the reason behind child marriage and failure to do so can result into disapproval or shame for the family¹⁰.

The demand of dowry is also one of major reasons for girls’ early marriage because ‘the older the girl, the higher the dowry that is likely to be demanded’ and therefore parents try to marry their girls as early as possible so that they have to spend less on their dowry¹¹. Watta Satta and Vani also contribute towards the greater number of child marriages. Watta Satta is the tradition of marriage in Punjab and Sindh, in which a girl is married to her sister-in-law’s brother at a very young age. Such a marriage often leads to the violence towards girls because they become the object of revenge in instance that her brother mistreats his wife¹². In rural areas, poverty is the most important factor for child marriages. Poorest girls are three times likely to get married by the age of 18 years as compared to richer ones³. In low income families, early marriage is the only strategy for survival of the economy as the financial burden of the girl is passed to her husband. This mainly happens in areas where people are poor and the girls are expected to become pregnant right after their marriage to maximize the number of children to satisfy the labour requirements for household⁸. The value of virginity also adds to the greater number of early marriages. After the girls reach their puberty, parents start worrying about sexual assault or girls starting early sexual activities¹³. At the country level, weak enforcement of law is a major factor that influences the incidence of early marriages.

Women who marry earlier are disadvantaged⁸. The major disadvantage of early marriages is the loss of education for girls and hence for the country. The current literacy rate of girls in Pakistan is at 39.6 % as compared to that of boys which is at 67.7%. Only 22% of girls, as compared to 47% of boys, complete their primary education¹⁴. Besides many other reasons for the low literacy rate of girls as compared to that of boys, ‘early marriages of girls’ is a major reason. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) guarantees to everyone the right to education¹. Young girls are forced to quit their schools and they are married. This increases the number of dropouts in schools. Child marriage with no schooling is three times larger as compared to marriages having some secondary education³. After marriage, girls cannot continue their studies because of certain reasons. In some areas of Pakistan, women are not allowed to leave their houses without the consent of their husbands. While in other areas, married women cannot leave their houses at all. And after marriage, they have to take care of their in-laws and then their children. According to a survey between 2000 and 2011, 57% of the women, who were married at a young age, had less than 7 years of schooling and just 19% of the married women had 7 or more years of schooling⁷. According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of women aged from 15 to 49 years between 2000 and 2011, 40% of the women married at a young age had almost no education, 22.8% had primary education and 9.9% had secondary education³. So the loss of basic education is a major effect of early marriages. Early marriages need to be stopped so that the literacy rate of girls and hence of the country can be increased.

Problems related to pregnancy and childbirth have severe effects on girls who are married at a very young age. In many developing countries, the majority of the childbirths occur between the first 24 months of marriage⁷, the girls get pregnant soon after their marriage with an estimated 42% chances of getting pregnant prior to the age of 20 years¹⁵ and ‘women who are married before the age of 18 tend to have more children than those who marry later in life’², so early marriage results into child-rearing at a very young age. ‘Early childbirths can have adverse health consequences for both woman and child’¹⁶. Females who are the victims of early marriage face many birth problems because they are very young and they face delivery problems and complications in pregnancy. The problems include low birth-weight, high risk of infant mortality and death during delivery². According to statistics, birth problems are more in rural areas as compared to urban areas because early marriages are common in rural areas. Girls who are married earlier are twice as likely to be underweight and five times as likely as to have four or more children⁸. The birth problems, according to a survey were highest in the pre-urban slums (17.7%) followed by the urban slums (15.6%) then the villages (14.8%) and lowest in the upper middle class (12.3%) ¹⁷. The complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the major reason of deaths of girls aged between 15 and 19 years, in low and middle income families¹⁸. The following statement clarifies the problems linked to early marriages,

“[Married] girls are not only at risk of early and unwanted pregnancies, but the complications associated with pregnancy and child-birth are among the leading causes of death for girls aged 15-19 worldwide. Child brides are also more likely to experience discrimination and violence. Too often, they have little or no ability to leave abusive partners and secure the social and legal support they need to improve their situation.”

 –Joint statement by the executive directors of the United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, and U.N. Women on the International Day of the Girl Child 2012⁴.

Moreover, females who marry at a very young age are ‘…likely to find motherhood the sole focus of their lives’ and they cannot pay attention to any other activity like education, development in career etc.⁷. They have to look after and bring up their children. They bring their children when they themselves are in their childhood. They lack the knowledge of basic steps in bringing up the children and hence cannot bring up their children well. Moreover, in rural areas, women have to work with their husbands in fields and they cannot focus totally on their children. This results into children who are not brought up well, so early marriages result into bad effects for both women and hence for their children.

Another major effect of early marriages of girls is the less power of girls in decision-making in the household. As the age of these girls is, sometimes, much less than their husbands, so their husbands are the dominant ones. And these girls are not given any right to make any decision in the household and are not given the control of house. Moreover, these girls face violence by their husbands and in-laws because they are younger in age and are not considered an important part of the family. The age of these girls is less and they mostly lack the basic education so they are economically and socially dependent on their husbands. The relationship of wife and husband could be influenced by the less age of girls as well as by the husband-wife age gap. Girls who are married earlier “may be less capable of asserting themselves and establishing their position in the household”⁵. As a result they have less power, less status and less autonomy within the household. In fact, some men choose brides of less age for this reason so that they can be the dominant ones in the household. Moreover these girls are easier to control than the older women so some families choose younger brides in order to control them and hence control the household themselves. According to an article by Susheela Singh and Renee Samara, “When a woman marries at the age of 20 or older, she is more likely to have had the opportunity to develop independently of her parents and siblings, and she is more likely to form an identity separate from that of her partner or husband.”⁷.

Some people argue that early marriages can result into stronger relationships between parents and children as there is lee difference in the ages of parents and children so parents can understand their children well by being friendly to them. They say that girls, especially, should be married at an early age because a mother brings up the children and early marriage of a girl would result into strong relationship between children and mother. Parents can understand their children well if the parents know the basic steps to bring up their children and if parents are well-educated then they don’t need to be married earlier in order to understand their children. We shouldn’t ignore the problems that are associated with early marriages. We need to be aware of the effects of these marriages on girls and boys. These marriages result into severe effects as girls are not socially, economically and mentally mature enough to be married. Early marriages are mostly the reason of violence faced by girls by their husbands and their in-laws. Girls are abused after their marriage and they are tortured as they cannot resist it. They are younger and less in power so they have to accept the violence and torture. According to a study, “The psychological consequences of abuse are more severe than its physical effects. The experience of abuse erodes women's self-esteem and puts them at a greater risk for a number of mental disorders like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide etc.”¹². So we shouldn’t risk the lives of little girls for just a single consequence i.e. stronger relationship between parents and children.

Despite many laws against early marriage, it still exists in most rural and some urban areas of Pakistan. These marriages have adverse effects on early-married girls’ lives e.g. lack of basic education, childbirth problems, less opportunities for development in any career, less power in decision-making, less status in the household and many other long-lasting effects. These marriages need to be stopped, not banned. Because they are already banned by the law but the tradition continues. Now these need to be stopped by several steps in order to eradicate this curse from our country. “Regulations, policies and pro- grams must be adapted to ensure that young women have as much access as young men to formal education and to paid employment.”⁷. Girls in the rural areas need to be protected in schools so that they can attend their schools and have basic education. According to a study, it is shown that “doubling the proportion of girls educated at the secondary level, could reduce the fertility rate by 1.4 children per women (from 5.3 to 3.9)”¹⁵. Surveys should be conducted in the whole country to find that which areas need to be given the awareness through seminars and through basic education. The only solution to this problem lies in education and in making the economy of the country strong enough so that poorer parents are not forced to marry their girls earlier.

References

1. Human Rights Watch. How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married? Report on Child Marriage. United States of America, 2011.Print.

2. UNICEF. EARLY MARRIAGE A Harmful Traditional Practice. Report on Early Marriages. New York: UNICEF( 2005): 1-28.

3. UNFPA. "Marrying Too Young." End Child Marriage (2012): 10-58. Web.

4. Center for Reproductive Rights. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CHILD MARRIAGE. Report on Early Marriages. New York: Center for Reproductive Rights, 2013.

5. Jensen, Robert and Rebecca Thornton. "Early female marriage in the developing world." Gender & Development (2003): 9-19.

6. Laws of Pakistan Relating to Marriage, Divorce, Khulla (Judicial Divorce) and Maintenance. 15 December 2015 <http://www.pklegal.org>.

7. Singh, Susheela and Renee Samara. "Early Marriage Among Women in Developing Countries." (1996): 148-157.Print.

8. Delprato, Marcos and Kwame Akyeampong. "On the impact of early marriages on schooling outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa and South West Asia." International Journal of Educational Development (2015): 42-55.

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11. Hamid, S, E Johansson and B Rubenson. "Security lies in obedience-voices of young women of a slum in Pakistan." BMC Public Health (2010): 164.

12. Niaz, Unaiza. "Women's mental health in Pakistan." World Psychiatry (2004): 1-3.

13. Khanna, T, R Verma and E Weiss. Child Marriage in South Asia: Realities, Responses and the Way Forward. Bangkok: ICRW Publications, 2013.

14. Saeed, Sadia. Impact of Early Age Marriages on Girls' Right to Education. A Research Study. Multan: AwazCDS-Pakistan, 2012.Web.

15. Nasrullah, Muazzam and Junaid A. Bhatti. "Gender Inequalities and Poor Health Outcomes in Pakistan: A Need of Priority for the National Health Research Agenda." (2012): 1-2.

16. Senderowitz, J. Adolescent health: reassessing the passage to adulthood. World Bank Discussion Paper. Washington DC: World Bank(1995): 272.

17. Yaqoob, M, et al. "Early child health in Lahore, Pakistan." Acta Paediatrica (1993): 17-26.

18. WHO. Preventing realy pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes among adolescents in developing countries. Report. Geneva: WHO Guidelines, 2011.