Existent of Child Marriage in Yemen It is a fact of every person that has to go through the process of birth, ages, sickness, and finally death. Marriage is a matter of choice for most people’s lives. However, for some girls who are forced into a marriage at an early age have no options. Child marriage has been occurring for a long time in various places because of economic burden, ancient tradition, few educational opportunities, and family honor whereby children, usually the female, are given in matrimony with older men before puberty. Early marriage is viewed as a context of coercion that involves oppression.
It makes child leave education and opportunities for self realization. Tradition and poverty continue to drive child marriage that is strongly associated with poor health and the lack of education as well. Child marriage is widespread in Yemen and child marriage is the depressing truth for many girls. Yemen is a country on Arabian Peninsula that has more than 23 million people and most people live in rural areas. Sunnis Muslims are the majority of Yemeni’ religion and some of them are Christians and Jews. More than half of Hymen’s children marry as early and religions and status are the important roles to drive child marriage growth.
In Yemen, the number of young marriage is pretty high. According to the United Nations data and government from Yemen, 14 percent of girls in Yemen marry before 15 years old and 52 percent of young women marry before 18 (Child marriage spurs, 2011). If the amount of child marriage continues at its rate or increases, the new child brides will also totally get suffer. Sadly, women in Yemen are second-class citizens and government in Yemen has no strict rules about young marriage which allow minimally 8 years old children to marry.
Child marriage is a controversial type that received a huge criticism and lives in this world where modern and traditional beliefs dispute. There are three obvious reasons that a child marriage should not be supported and legalized in terms of violation of their human rights, health problems, and the lack of ability. Early marriage represents many disadvantages and a violation of human rights is one of the most importantly negative effects. Child marriage separates children from their freedom. Early marriage involves with the low level of schooling which violates the human right in term of education.
Most child brides lose out a chance for studying or are not enrolled school because they have to undertake a domestic duty or marriage. For example, Afar was married for five months and had to leave school for getting marriage. She wanted to study like other people and also had a dream to be a lawyer but her dream was ruined because she is going to have a baby and no one supported her to educate, according to Human Rights Watch (How come you, 2 011). The majority of child brides come from poor communities so they have less chance for schooling.
Therefore, it is a big barrier for children and their own country for evolving. Teenage should be the age that children spend time with their friends and have fun as adolescent is supposed to be but they have to struggle with forced marriage. If child brides have an opportunity to study or being educated girls, they creates many positive results for themselves, economic development, poverty recession, decreasing of reproductive problems. Education not only provides many advantages but also gets rid tontine use to chi Eider as transaction.
It children are uneducated, perpetuating cycles of low skills of literacy and limited livelihood opportunities will provide and lead to reduction in employment which is the main key of poverty. Because of poverty, money is the main factor of living so there are many forced marriages to get a bride price. A girl may be the only commodity of family for trading, using as a currency, or settling debts. Using children as a transaction is not the best to figure out financial problems because not only children have to undergo the worse situation parent’s will also experience the poverty again.
If they do not study for working or learn to manage, even having much more money from a bride rice it will be gone someday. On the other hand, believers of children marriage start the argument about human rights violation by making a statement that there is no specific law which directly states that early marriage in Yemen is illegal because Hymen’s government put child marriage in the bottom list of political issue (Child marriage spurs, 2011). Therefore, early marriage should not be considered as a criminal offense.
However the word “forced” that is represented in term of forced marriage or child marriage, it is the manifestation that forced marriage is formed as human abuse. Any type of aggressive acts affects an individual to engage without children’s acceptance already violates the human rights. Although there is no accurate offense of child marriage, it will be committed in child marriage at last. Sometimes immoral act is not written as a law but people should consider about the norms of society and political rightness is not a Justification of moral blindness.
Another reason for disagreeing is health problems. It is a fact that health is such an important thing for every person because healthy is a main key to drive through all activity in our lives. However it is not for a child bride because child marriage is at a risk of pregnant problems from early reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, and physical and mental health problems (Child marriage must, n. D. ). The victims of early marriage experience many violations such as physical abuses, rape, mental abuses and also lose many opportunities.
It will be the worst part of girls’ lives that are forced to marry with whom they do not even know or fall in love and deprive of dictating their own future and dream. After marriage most children tends to start childbearing. Imagine having a close age kid is very depressing. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth will be leading to maternal death. Some child brides and infants die in childbirth but some survives with suffer of chronic disability.
To illustrate, Baddie who married at 14 years old and when she was 16 years old, she had a first child. After that she had five more in quick including three miscarriages and she had been suffered with bone ache and other illnesses from childbirth (Bone ache and, 2010). Early motherhood is and also increases possibilities of poor infant such as low birth weight and totally linked to health problems such as inadequate duration that significantly associate with neonatal death and stillbirth. According to government data show that 74. percent of child death is because children are not reaching 20 years old that have high proportion of unfavorable results which are neonatal death and a disability of infants. Spontaneous abortion or miscarriage also occurs twice with children under 20 years old (How come you, 2011). Another factor of incomplete childbirth is undernourished. It is hard for young girls who are under control by their husband to advocate for adequate food for themselves such as iron, attain A, and tools acid which are needed tort being mother without them incomplete pregnant results may occur.
Moreover, parent’s may believe that marriage as early for children will protect them from not only sexual abuse but also diseases but in reality they are putting their children into these risks. That is because particularly older men have more sexual experience so they may already be infected with Human immunodeficiency virus or HIVE (End child marriage, n. D. ). Surely that authority in household is held husband and his family members so it is easily that girls will be hectically and verbally assaulted by them.
Especially for young girls have a greater risk of abuse because of a young age. Young girls who get married will be forced into having sexual intercourse with their husband, usually much older even though non coerced sex is associated with the harmful consequences because the girl is not physically, mentally, and sexually matures. Mental health is another problematic point of child marriage. Since a child was forced to marry, it leads to mental health problems such as stress or anxiety. Sexual abuse, pressure, poor environment bring hem into mental illnesses.
Child brides are at risks of mental disorders from their spouses and spouses’ families. They are known to be permit violence and less likely to leave abusive partners which causes of psychological problems that also cause a sense of worthlessness depression and suicide thoughts. The low status of young girls and gender based violence are against them to limit their access of reproductive, sexual health, and health information. Some proponents said that child marriage performs as satisfaction of cultural traditions or religious preservation that children have to follow.
Culture and traditions are very important in people’s lives because they are a foundation of people’s beliefs and faith and also guild people into a standardized way of life. Proponents also believe that marital practice or child marriage is normal and it is a part of our long lived cultures and individual’s historical backgrounds. If people in the past agree with this type of marriage so it should continue this practice. Furthermore, if parent’s deal with the challenge to raise their kids then why not confide in their decisions that the person who they want their children marry with.
However a children marriage does not happen because of girls’ satisfactions. Parent’s put pressure on their daughters to marry someone that their daughters never even know before and to follow the culture tradition. The fact is that it not true about following the tradition because every major religion is not the main key of child marriage and also condemns it but most people use religion as an excuse (Domestic programmer fund, 2011). Lastly, the lack of abilities is depressing for early marriage girls. During the childhood and the teenage is the most important time that physical and mental development is growing.
As a result, they suppose to be studying in schools in order to develop their abilities as well as to gain more useful knowledge to get more chances to work in better careers. At that time it should not have any obstacle to reject growing time. Child marriage is barrier for not only makes children lose their chances to access the education and spend time with their friends like the other but also lose the abilities. Marrying of too young age is not stable; it may lead to a number of unexpected incidences. It may lead to the poverty if the husband, the one in the family who earn money dies.
The lack of knowledge of other may also lead children to have poor educational knowledge. For example, according to Human Right Watch information, Magma T. Who married as early told the Human Right Watch that seen was uncompleted near education and let near school to get married. Now, when she sees her daughter, she always says to herself that “who is going to teach my daughter? ” because she cannot even understand the value of education and general knowledge (Child marriage spurs, 2011). Imagine emotional chooses of young women are compelled to go through Just to respect the tradition and the wishes of their parent’s.
To engage or marry should be the happiest time of their lives but to be places in the situation of a child marriage will be the worst time ever for children. Furthermore, children are not in the position to marry as a young age because they have immature body. The article in the newspaper, Daily Mail, recently shows that the most suitable age for women to have children is around 27 to 34 years old. Most of babies who were born by mothers who are on the age between 27 to 34 are healthier (Hale, 2005). Too young women may face with the problem not only unhealthy children but also taking care their babies because they may lack of experiences.
Thoughts and actions as a kid make spaces between a baby and mother and sometimes to be mother have to decide something decisively but children are not in a position to make a proper decision, therefore most of the time children tend to make wrong decision where as an adult can make a better outcomes. On the other side, marriage is combination of two families not only among two people so bloodlines and reputation is matter. Parent’s are more maturity and wise determination to choose spouses for their children. Parent’s also know better about marriage even though when there is a serious matter during marriage.
In addition, love will come after the marriage itself. Complication in marriage about one’s partner will keep the relationship interesting. However individuals who are getting marriage are the primitive decision makers in a marriage. Parent’s, other families, and factors are Just the supporters. The success of marriage depends on married couple and divorce is not a choice even if there is much outer pressure for two people to stay in marriage. It is partly true that parent’s and other’s opinions are important factors but the individuals who involves with marriage should be the ones that take an action and consideration.
To sum up, child marriage provides many adverse points that are driven by the social, tradition, and financial concerns. It is an unacceptable type of marriage and violates the human rights that show inequality of gender and makes children lack of knowledge and abilities. It also negatively affects people’s health in terms of physical and mental health problems. Early marriage virtually impairs enjoyment of every child. Yemeni government should take step on the law to set the minimum age at 18 years old for marriage and support or promote for Yemeni to receive the negative effects and also the way to protect themselves from child marriage.
