Trauma of Child Marriage
WAW client, Sahar Gul, was sold into marriage at the age of 13. Her husband and his family tried to force her into prostitution through torture, drugs, and sexual assault with hot pokers. She was rescued by WAW after two years of living this torture. Under our protection, she studied diligently to become a lawyer, who will one day fight for the rights of women who have suffered abuse and human rights violations, like she did.
WAW educates clients, the general public, government officials, and religious leaders on the health, educational, cultural, social, and economic consequences of child marriage and the ways in which everyone in society is adversely affected by this cruel practice.
ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE IN AFGHANISTAN
WAW relentlessly works to educate clients and their families on the harmful effects of child marriage through counseling and family mediation sessions, as well as legal assistance to current and former child brides. All of these services are offered at WAW's Family Guidance Centers and our other centers in the 16 provinces in which we operate in Afghanistan.
WAW relentlessly advocates for the elimination of child marriage through frequent meetings with government, community, and religious leaders to:
- promote the rule of law;
- enforce existing tenants of civil and Shari'a law; and
- provide further protections for Afghan girls subject to this human rights violation.
Finally, WAW’s Women’s Rights ARE Human Rights Training Program has educated over 396,500 women and men, and includes discussions on the legal prohibition of child marriage in Afghanistan and under Islamic law, children’s rights, the high risk of maternal mortality and pregnancy complications for underage mothers, and the prevalence of domestic violence against child brides.
ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE IN NEW YORK
WAW’s New York Community Center (NYCC) serves Afghan-American, South Asian, and other Muslim immigrant families. Their lack of integration into the wider community often results in the preservation of harmful practices, including forced and/or child marriage, which disproportionately impact young women and girls.
To shift cultural attitudes to promote women’s and girls’ rights, and to address the issue of child marriage that once plagued the community, WAW’s Girls Leadership Program, Boys Leadership Program, and Afghan Youth Rising Program work with young women and men aged 10-20 to develop their leadership skills, provide a safe space to discuss culture, gender, and religion, and to support their academic and professional goals.
WAW’s adult programming also instructs women and men about girls’ and women’s rights, domestic violence, and the pitfalls of child marriage.
Since the inception of WAW’s programming focused on girls, child marriage has been virtually eliminated in the New York Afghan community.
Over 70% of WAW clients were subjected to underage marriages
WAW works with each client and their families to ensure they are safe and provided the opportunity to live the lives they choose for themselves.
Gul Meena's Story
WAW client, Gul Meena, was illegally married at age 13 as the third wife of a grandfather. When she fled, her brother and uncle attacked her with an ax to avenge the family’s alleged “honor.” WAW provided Gul Meena with shelter, medical care, and education, as well as assisted with her recent resettlement in Sweden.
CHILD MARRIAGE IN AFGHAN CULTURE
Estimates suggest that well over half of all Afghan women are married before the age of 18. Afghan law prohibits marriage before 16 for girls and 18 for boys, although a court or girl’s father may consent to her marriage at 15.
Poverty, illiteracy, gender discrimination, and lack of access to healthcare and education are the largest drivers of child marriage in Afghanistan.
Afghan child brides are most often unwittingly thrust into these arranged marriages without any consultation or their consent. The power dynamics of these marriages, particularly with significant age disparity, render these girls vulnerable to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse from their husbands and families. In order to escape these challenges, many brides run away from home, subjecting themselves to imprisonment for committing “moral crimes” in Afghanistan, while others choose suicide, frequently by self-immolation.
In the Afghan diaspora, these practices persist. Afghan immigrant or refugee child brides are frequently sent back to Afghanistan or Afghan communities in Pakistan for marriage. In addition to the common challenges of child brides, these girls are often forced to move to countries where they have never been, do not speak the language(s), and consequently suffer additional isolation, distress, and loss of personal agency.
Quotes:
According to Girls Not Brides, a partnership of more than 400 civil society organizations working to end child marriage, 15 million girls a year marry before the age of 18: that makes 41,000 girls a day, or one girl every two seconds. Unless we do something to reduce those numbers, an extra 1.2 billion girls will be married by 2050.
The World Economic Forum
Girls with no education are 3 times as likely to marry by 18 as those with a secondary or higher education. Over 60% of women (20-24) with no education were married before 18.
Girls Not Brides
CHILD MARRIAGE WORLDWIDE
Worldwide, around 15 million or one-in-three girls are subject to child marriage every year, often forced or coerced. Married minors are more likely to experience poverty, domestic violence, lack of access to education, sexual abuse, and emotional and physical health challenges.
Child marriage frequently leads to adolescent pregnancy and childbirth, which pose unique risks due to girls’ biological immaturity—indeed, pregnancy is the leading cause of death of girls aged 15-18. Those who survive often grapple with pre-birth complications, fistulas, stillbirth, and other physical ramifications to themselves and their children.
Restricting child marriage is a critical first step to ensuring girls can continue their education, freely exercise their rights, and effectively participate in political, social, and economic life.
