Child Marriage

 

 

Can you imagine getting married or divorced at the tender age of ten? The above is not from a fiction but the true story of Nujood Ali (now 15) from Yemen, one of the authors of I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, and now the famous anti-child-marriage rebel in the world. She is home with her family and attending school again. Unfortunately, there are millions of untold stories similar to or worse than Nujood's in our world today.

Who holds the fate of these girls?

{wvgallery groupname=group12} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide112.jpg{/images} {desc}In the same village, men negotiate the price of the 13- year-old bride.{/desc}{/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide113.jpg{/images}{desc}Because of poverty, Rozina from India was forced to marry at the age of 13 by her parents. Tortured and now abandoned by her husband, she is left with her malnourished 2-month-old baby.{/desc}{/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide117.jpg{/images} {desc}Mossammat, a Bangladeshi mother of three daughters, married at the early age of 14. She had no voice of her own in the process of her marriage as it was an arranged marriage decided by the guardians from both families.{/desc} {/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide114.jpg{/images} {desc}''I was happy to know all the excitement was for me. I didn't know what marriage was all about then,'' Babita recalls her wedding moment. Married into a large joint family in India, the household chores were endless for this little bride.{/desc} {/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide116.jpg{/images} {desc}''I want my daughters to be literate and educated before they marry. Their lives will be better that way. We lost everything from our childhood when we were married so early,'' says Fatima (age 22), an Afghan women married at the age of 12.{/desc} {/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide119.jpg{/images}{desc}Holding a proposal in hand, this girl from an ethnic minority in Vietnam urges government leaders to stop the early marriage practice among ethnic minority groups as she believes child spouses are not mature enough to take care of their children.{/desc} {/item} {item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide120.jpg{/images} {desc}15-year-old Suborna (red head scarf) was able to escape an arranged marriage and stay in school with the help of the Child Forum facilitated by World Vision Bangladesh. She has now become a household name in her community, campaigning against child marriage.{/desc} {/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide118.jpg{/images}{desc}A young woman waiting for a pre-operation consultation at a Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. Fistula is a common condition among child brides, usually caused by prolonged obstructed labour. Women who experience obstetric fistula suffer constant incontinence, shame, and health problems.{/desc} {/item} {item} {images}images/Learn/images/issues/childmarriage/issue_childmarriage_slide115.jpg{/images} {desc}From left to right, the newlywed Kainat and Shahzed, now 14 and 15 respectively, were sold in marriage by their mother due to extreme poverty and insecurity at home in Pakistan. Many families in fragile states genuinely believe that marriage can offer protection to their children's lives and honour.{/desc}{/item} {/wvgallery}