Too Young to Marry
Too Young to Marry
When Kakenya Ntaiya was a 7-year-old schoolgirl in Kenya, she worried that her family would soon marry her off and she would be forced to become a child raising children. She had good reason to worry: Her family had announced her engagement at age 5.
. . . . .
Ntaiya beat those odds with help from a supportive mother and her own determination to stay in school. She even agreed to undergo the local discriminatory tradition of female genital cutting in exchange for being allowed to finish high school. With help from village elders, she earned the right and the funds to keep studying, promising she would make her community proud.
. . . . .
A mix of financial pressures and social and tradition-related practices that discriminate against women and girls leads parents to marry off their daughters so young. Many believe that finding a husband for a daughter will keep her safe, especially in times of social instability or fragility. Parents see girls as economic burdens who will not help support them in old age but whose labor will benefit the new husbands family.
Natural disasters, armed conflict and social upheaval create more opportunities for the social ill of child marriage to take hold. Among the perils unleashed by such upheaval are food shortages, intermittent or entirely absent legal authorities, and shuttered or only occasionally functioning schools. Families looking for a path to protect their girls view marriage as one of the most acceptable options, given all the risksincluding sexual violencefacing their children. A 2013 World Vision report noted that fear of rape and sexual violence, of unwanted premarital pregnancies, of family shame and dishonor, of homelessness and hunger or starvation were all reported by parents and children as legitimate reasons for early marriage.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/02/20/too-young-to-marry/
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I know that we don't like to get involved in other countries way of life as I have heard from time to time, but in this case. I think we should be nosy and try and change their culture. It won't be easy though. We will have to go into another country and educate them on how not to marry off their young girls until at least 18 and only then if they want to be married. This will be a huge undertaking.
niyad
(113,325 posts)in many areas, etc., etc.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I am not even sure if we are equipped to fix this to be honest with you. I wish we were but we have so many problems ourselves that even taking this would be a huge undertaking which is actually worthwhile but difficult.
niyad
(113,325 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Your not going to see China or Russia do anything. Europe does never little. It is us or nobody.
niyad
(113,325 posts)fact.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I am just trying to understand your reply.