- Nigeria ranks third in the prevalence of child brides
After 17 years of campaigning by advocacy groups and eight failed attempts to push the legislation through the House and Senate, legislators in the South American country of Colombia finally passed the bill to eradicate child marriage.
On Wednesday evening last week, the lawmakers, after five hours of heated, drawn-out debate, approved the proposed legislation, dubbed They are Girls, Not Wives, which prohibits the marriage of anyone under the age of 18.
“We do not want to continue seeing the systematic violence and sexual exploitation of children. Colombia is making history because, for the first time, we have managed to ban child marriage after trying eight times,” said Jennifer Pedraza, congresswoman for the Dignity and Commitment Party and co-author of the bill, after the vote. “So it is a great message, not only for Colombia in terms of respect for the rights of boys and girls, but also for the world. Colombian childhood is important, we have to protect it and we have to care for it.
“So we are very happy that Colombia has just left the shameful list of countries that allow childhood marriage.”
Colombia is now one of 12 countries out of the 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean to have entirely banned marriage under the age of 18, following Honduras, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
It ends a 137-year-old loophole in the country’s civil code which allowed under-18s to marry with parental consent. Minors were also deemed to have entered an informal marital union when they cohabited for two years.
There are 4.5 million girls and women in Colombia who married before 18 – about one in four. Of these, a million were married before they were 15, according to Unicef.
Sandra Ramirez, adviser in Latin America for the advocacy group Equality Now, said: “Eliminating these exceptions aligns Colombian law with international standards and guarantees the full protection of the rights of girls and adolescents.”
Rates of childhood marriage in girls are about three times higher than for boys, with children living in poverty and rural or Indigenous communities particularly affected.
Despite decades of economic and social development, the prevalence of child marriage had barely budged due to a deeply ingrained machista [male chauvanist] culture, decades of internal conflict and narcoculture, says Marta Royo, executive director of Profamilia, a non-profit organistation promoting reproductive health services.
“We live in an extremely patriarchal society where there is a deep division between what a man wants and a girl wants,” Royo said. “In many areas we have a role in life and that role is simply to be mothers, it doesn’t matter at how early an age. It is totally normalised to make girls of 12, 13, 14 not just into wives, but into mothers.”
Rights groups have campaigned to end the practice for 17 years but bills were shot down, with opposition citing tradition and parental rights, and many representatives of the country’s more than 100 Indigenous communities opposed to the bill.
Advocacy groups said that Colombia was legally obliged to wipe out the practice as it is a signatory of international conventions on violence against women. They also pointed out that marriages are often between girls in poverty and an older partner with economic power.
“A lot of the time these girls have no say on entering a relationship and then when they enter it they have even less. Their opinions don’t count, their dreams don’t count and they are viewed as objects,” Royo said.
Studies have long shown child marriage is strongly linked to poverty and oppressive relationships.
Children who marry are more likely to have an early pregnancy and die in childbirth, to drop out of school and become victims of domestic violence.
Senator María José Pizarro said: “These girls abandon everything. Their studies, their life project and their possibility to construct a life for them and their children ends completely.”
The bill also stipulated that policies, including education, must be introduced to address the root causes of child marriage.
“This is a historic moment but a lot of challenges remain ahead,” Ramirez said. “Public policy now will be crucial, as a change in legislation means little without effective implementation and ensuring that the voices of girls and adolescents are at the centre.”
Meanwhile, four out of every ten girls in Nigeria are married before the age of Eighteen. This was revealed at the high-level National Dialogue on Ending Child Marriage hosted by the Government of Nigeria and supported by UNFPA and UNICEF.
According to UNICEF, child marriage remains a critical issue affecting the development and well-being of adolescent girls globally, with Nigeria ranking third in the prevalence of child brides.
Its prevalence remains high in the country, with 44% of girls married before the age of 18, totalling over 24 million child brides and ranking third globally. Although recent data suggests a decline in national prevalence from 44% to 30%, progress has been slow and uneven, particularly affecting the poorest households, rural areas, and girls with little or no education.
Speaking at a recent Stakeholders’ Consultation to deliberate on sustainable strategies towards ending child marriage in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, a UNICEF Representative said:
“Child marriage violates the fundamental rights and freedoms of young girls. The collective action and unwavering commitment of government officials, community and religious leaders, civil society organizations and every Nigerian is required to end this harmful practice” said Dr. Gifty Addico, UNFPA Resident Representative
“In addressing the challenge of child marriage in Nigeria, we stand with our partners and commit to a strategic and united effort to eradicate this practice by 2030. We reaffirm our pledge to elevate the status and well-being of girls, ensuring their rights to education, health, and economic opportunities are preserved. Child marriage not only impacts their well-being but can also cause grave emotional and bodily harm. It is a practice that must be stopped.”
Watch the video below.
Most of this report was culled from The Guardian with additional reports from UNICEF.org.
