If you don't see it is it real?: December 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Statistics, Legal Issues, Consequences (United Kingdom)

Plan UK wants child marriage to become a thing of the past. Here we provide statistics, analyse the legal issues, the causes and consequences, and explain how education is key to putting an end to early and forced marriage.

Ten million girls under the age of 18 marry each year.

That’s around …

833,333 a month
192,307 a week
27,397 a day
19 every minute

Or, around one girl every three seconds.

READ MORE: http://www.plan-uk.org/early-and-forced-marriage/

Do You Know Someone In Need of Help?

United Kingdom Forced Marriage Unit
If you suspect a young person is being forced into marriage against their will, whether here or abroad, contact the Forced Marriage Unit, in confidence.
Call- 020-7008-0151 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Outside those hours, call 020-7008-1500 and ask for the Foreign Office Response Centre.

Email- fmu@fco.gov.uk

SOURCE: http://www.forcedmarriage.net/media/images/DCSF-StopForcedMarriages-HowYouCanHelp_88.pdf

Get Involved

"Forward" United Kingdom is a women's rights organization focusing specifically on women in Africa, where forced and child marriages are rampant and need to be halted. Here you can find ways to raise awareness, volunteer for the cause, donate, or fundraise.

READ MORE:
http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/get-involved/act

Child and Forced Marriage

A forced marriage is defined as a marriage "conducted without the valid consent of one or both parties and is a marriage in which duress - whether physical or emotional - is a factor". FORWARD believes that any child marriage constitutes a forced marriage, in recognition that even if a child appears to give their consent, anyone under the age of 18 is not able to make a fully informed choice whether or not to marry. Child marriages must be viewed within a context of force and coercion, involving pressure and emotional blackmail and children that lack the choice or capacity to give their full consent.

http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/child-marriage

Where Does Child Marriage Occur?

The map above shows the countries in the world where child marriage is practiced and gives an indication of the percentage of girls affected by child marriage in each country. Child marriage is a worldwide phenomenon but is most prevalent in Africa and Southern Asia and although its practice has decreased somewhat in recent decades, it remains common in, although not only confined to, rural areas and among the most poverty stricken.

It is predicted by the UNFPA that worldwide 100 million girls are expected to marry in the next decade. In Africa, UNICEF estimate that 42 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18 and in some African countries the figure is much higher, such as in Niger where there is a 76 per cent incidence of child marriage. The age at which children are married also varies between countries but marriage before the age of 15 is not uncommon and in some areas of West Africa and in Ethiopia, girls are sometimes married as early as age 7.

http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/child-marriage

Saturday, December 15, 2012

National Geographic Covers Child Brides

"The people who work full-time trying to prevent child marriage, and to improve women's lives in societies of rigid tradition, are the first to smack down the impertinent notion that anything about this endeavor is simple. Forced early marriage thrives to this day in many regions of the world—arranged by parents for their own children, often in defiance of national laws, and understood by whole communities as an appropriate way for a young woman to grow up when the alternatives, especially if they carry a risk of her losing her virginity to someone besides her husband, are unacceptable."

READ MORE:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/child-brides/gorney-text

Burnings Atributed To Forced/Early Marriages


Marzia, 15, rests in the burn ward after having her burns cleaned. The painful but necessary ritual is perfomed daily by the nurse as part of the recovery process. Marzia, who was married at age 9, set herself on fire because she was afraid of her husbands reaction to her breaking the family television set.

A rose is held up to the face of Rokhshana who was near death at Herat Public Hospital. She set herself on fire when her husband, who left her to go to Iran 14 years earlier, demanded she return to him. She was only 10 when they were married.

Fauza sits naked while waiting for new dressings to be put on her burns. She denies burning herself on purpose, which is often the case for fear of being an embarassment or being treated poorly by hospital staff, but relatives confirm that that she self-immolated. NGOs in Herat Province have reported a sharp rise in the number of young wives who douse themselves in kerosene and burn themselves in an effort to get away from their husbands.

Marzia, 15, screams in pain while having her burns cleaned. The painful but necessary ritual is perfomed daily by the nurse as part of the recovery process. Marzia, who was married at age 9, set herself on fire because she was afraid of her husbands reaction to her breaking the family television set.

Female family members mourn outside the home of Rokhshana in the village of Yakhdaan the day of the funeral, as cultural traditions forbids women to attend funerals. Rokhshana set herself on fire when her husband, whom she married at age 10, demanded she return to him after 14 years abroad. She died in the hospital from her wounds.


Girls wait to have their bandages removed and their burns cleaned in Herat, Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2003. In one week, the burn ward in Herat, Afghanistan saw two new patients enter the ward after self immolating and then die from their wounds.


Girls wait to have their bandages removed and their burns cleaned in Herat, Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2003. In one week, the burn ward in Herat, Afghanistan saw two new patients enter the ward after self immolating and then die from their wounds.

Men pray before burying Rokhshana, Afghanistan, May 25, 2005. Cultural traditions forbid women to attend burials, as they are too emotional at the scene. Rokhshana set herself on fire when her husband, who left her to go to Iran 14 years earlier, demanded she return to him. She died in the hospital from her wounds.

SOURCE: all VII photos taken by Stephanie Sinclair
http://viiphoto.wg.picturemaxx.com/series/1.905

Child Brides

Young girl cowers at husbands feet

11-year-old in Malawi, Africa, fled to social services after her grandmother made her marry a man 29 years

Portrait of Said, 55, and Roshan, 8, on the day of their engagement, Afghanistan

Police woman Malalai Kakar (back right) arrests Janan, 35, after he tried to kill his 15-year-old wife Jamila for angering him by fleeing her home to stay with her mother following years of abuse

Priest Addisu Abebe, 23, and his new bride Destaye Amare, 11, are married in a traditional Ethiopian Orthodox wedding in the rural areas outside the city of Gondar, Ethiopia

Sumeena Shreshta Balami, right, 15, leaves her home to meet her groom

Sarita, 15, is seen covered in tears and sweat before she is sent to her new home in Rajasthan, India

Maya, 8, and Kishore, 13, pose for a wedding photo inside their new home the day after the Hindu holy day of Akshaya Tritiya, or Akha Teej, in Rajasthan, India

Asia, a 14-year-old mother, washes her new baby girl at home in Hajjah while her two-year-old daughter plays

Faiz, 40, and Ghulam, 11, sit in her home prior to their wedding in the rural Damarda Village, Afghanistan on September 11, 2005


Debritu, 14, escaped from her husband while seven month pregnant


Sumeena, 15, cries as her father carries her to the front of the wedding procession, which will transport her to her new husband's home. The harmful traditional practice of early marriage common in Nepal. Early marriage is a harmful traditional practice common in Nepal. The Kagati village, a Newar community, is most will known for its propensity towards this practice.

A nine-months pregnant Niruta, 14, arrives at the wedding ceremony. Niruta moved in with the family of Durga Bahadur Balami, 17, and became pregnant when they were only engaged. In some circles of the more socially open Newar people, this is permissible.


Village leader blesses the home of Surita, 16, directly following the wedding ceremony.

Saraswati, 14, the sister of bride Sumeena, 15, cries as the groom's family takes Sumeena away.

Bishal, 16, and Surita, 14, accepts gifts from relatives after their wedding ceremony.

Tsegaya, 13, sits with her friends while waiting for her groom Talema, 23, on their wedding day.

Children sing and clap at the wedding of Tsegaya, 13, and Talema, 23, in the Yeganda Village.

Family members place a white cloth over the head of Leyualem, 14, as she is prepared to be whisked away on a mule by her new groom and groomsmen. Leyualem had never met her husband before her wedding day, yet submitted as they bound her in the white wedding cloth. The men later said it was placed over her head so she would not be able to find her way back home, should she want to escape the marriage.

Yekaba, 15, is carried to the hospital by her relatives. She had been in labor for three days with her first born. She later developed a fistula, a common result of prolonged obstructed labor and early marriage. Women who have fistulas are often shunned in their villages and thought of a cursed by God.

Elsa, 20, prepares for church in her home. At age 11, Elsa ran away from home the day she was supposed to get married to a neighboring villager. She was later offered a job in a restaurant, but it turned out to be a brothel. Elsa does not know who fathered her daughter and has yet decided to test herself or her child for HIV, but she hopes to someday escape from nightmare her life has become.

Majabin, 13, wife of farmer Mohammed, 45, works in their mud home, Afghanistan, June 7, 2006. Mohammed was offered Majabin as a debt settlement when a fellow farmer could not pay after a night of playing cards. They have been married for six months.

A newly married teenage girl is seen inside her home in Takhar Povince, Afghanistan, May 1, 2010. According to Unicef, 57 percent of Afghan marriages involve girls under 16. Women's activists say up to 80 percent of marriages in the country are either forced or arranged. The problem is particularly acute in poverty-stricken rural areas.

SOURCE: http://www.viiphoto.com/showstory.php?nID=712
NOTE: all VII photos by Stephanie Sinclair

Families Torn Apart

“I naively thought my mother would somehow run and take me back into her heart, or into the family, because [she had] lost a daughter in such a horrific way. But no, she made it clear. She said to me, ‘You must not come to the funeral. You must not come to the house. You are not allowed to mourn her with us. If you come, you come when it’s dark and nobody can see you.’”

READ MORE: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/09/18/forced-marriage-and-honor-killings-happen-in-britain-u-s-too.html

Happening Now in America

“I think Americans are completely unaware of forced marriage happening on our soil. We have a mythology about freedom and believe it applies to everyone here,” said Layli Miller-Munro, executive director of the Tahirih Justice Center in suburban Virginia, a nonprofit legal defense organisation which works on forced marriage and other human rights abuses affecting girls and women primarily from immigrant communities.

READ MORE: http://www.salon.com/2012/11/24/forced_marriage_in_our_own_backyard/

Friday, December 14, 2012

Religion and Forced Marriage

"From the fundamentalist Christian polygamist sects of the American west, to Israeli cult leaders, to the sale of child brides from Hindu families in India, religion has been used as a justification to enslave and control girls and women in marriages against their will. However, most of the recent stories of forced marriage and child brides in the news have centred on Islamic countries and cultures. So is forced marriage supported by Islam, or is it “un-Islamic?"

READ MORE: http://www.defence.pk/forums/social-issues-current-events/162467-abducted-forced-into-muslim-marriage.html

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Womans Face Severly Mutilated After Fleeing From Abusive Husband and His Family

Aisha's father promised her to a Taliban fighter when she was 12 years old as compensation for a killing that a member of her family had committed. She was married at 14 and subjected to constant abuse. At 18, she fled the abuse but was caught by police, jailed, and returned to her family. Her father returned her to her in-laws. To take revenge on her escape, her father-in-law, husband, and three other family members took Aisha into the mountains, cut off her nose and her ears, and left her to die. Bibi was later rescued by aid workers and the U.S. military.

READ MORE:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2007407,00.html

Moroccan Girl Commits Suicide After Judge Forces Her To Marry Her Rapist

The 16-year-old girl, named only as Amina, ate rat poison after a Tangier court which was supposed to be punishing her 26-year-old attacker decided that they should instead be wed.

READ MORE: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/03/16-year-old-moroccan-girl-kills-herself-after-judge-forces-her-to-marry-her-rapist.html

Suicide Over Forced Marriage

Banoth Radhika, 15, consumed pesticide, to avoid her forcible marriage to a boy from Pallaruguda village. Her father Yadagiri and stepmother Kamala who were keen on getting her married this year itself had even paid a part of the dowry to the boy's parents. Radhika, who was depressed over her parents' decision to get her married, took the extreme step. She consumed pesticide at her residence and collapsed on the floor. Her father Yadagiri rushed her to the hospital where the doctors declared her brought dead.

READ MORE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Girl-ends-life-over-forced-marriage-proposal/articleshow/17593406.cms

Slashing Young Girls Hope For Education

Parents are of the view that a woman does not have to struggle for a living; instead she has to be taken care of by her husband. Therefore, the earlier she gets married the better. Girls are lured into dropping out of school in accordance with traditional beliefs.

READ MORE: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212130214.html

What Is Forced Marriage?

Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will. A forced marriage differs from an arranged marriage, in which both parties consent to the assistance of their parents or a third party (such as a matchmaker) in identifying a spouse, although the difference between the two may be indistinct. The practice of forced marriage is still practiced in the Middle East, parts of South Asia, East Asia and Africa and among immigrants to the West from these region.

Forcing someone to marry is a distinct criminal offense in the following countries:

Austria
Belgium
Turkey
Denmark
Germany
United Kingdom

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

16 Year Old Boy Saves Himself From Forced Marriage

According to UNICEF Child marriage negatively affects a child’s development, education, health and future.
Children in India who marry young are more likely to drop out of school, have a low paid job, and limited decision-making power at home.
Child marriage is widespread all over India, affecting all social groups, but it’s more common in rural areas and among excluded communities, castes and tribes.

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