Scarica Child marriage riassunto e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Female rights are still unrespected: child marriage Child marriage is any formal marriage or informal union where one or both of the parties are under 18 years of age. In about one fifth of countries (38), there are different minimum ages for men and women, and almost always the girl is younger. Sudan has the largest gender gap: girls can marry at 10 and boys can marry at 15 or puberty without parental or judicial permission. Several countries also have different age requirements depending on religious affiliation.For example, in the Philippines, couples must be 21 to marry without permission, unless they are Muslim; Muslim boys can marry at 15 and Muslim girls can marry at puberty. And in Tanzania, Muslim and Hindu girls can marry at 12 as long as the marriage is not consummated until the girl reaches the age of 15. Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18, 1 girl every 2 seconds . If current trends continue, the number of girls who marry as children will reach nearly one billion by 2030. Isolated and with limited freedom, married girls often feel disempowered. They are deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education and safety. Child brides are neither physically nor emotionally ready to become wives and mothers. They face more risks of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth – their bodies simply aren’t ready-, contracting HIV/AIDS and suffering domestic violence. Child marriage exposes girls to violence throughout their lives, and traps them in a cycle of poverty. With little access to education and economic opportunities, they and their families are more likely to live in poverty. It also hurts countries’ economies, damaging social and economic development and leading to a cycle of poverty between generations. Child marriages is a truly problem that cuts across countries, cultures, rekigions and ethnicities. In fact child brides can de found in every region in the world, from the Middle East to Latin America, South Asia to Europe. And yet, at least 117 countries around the world allow it to happen, according to the Pew Research Center. Pew looked at 198 countries and found that almost all (192) of them have laws that specify when people can legally marry. Only six countries – Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – do not specify a minimum age for marriage. However, almost two thirds of the countries (117) allow children to marry. Even in countries that stipulate a minimum age of 18, many have exemptions to the rule.
