According to “The Guardian”, poverty
strikes again, only this time robbing so many girl of their childhood. On
average, one in three girls marries before her 15th birthday – and severe
drought, poverty and hunger are pushing some parents to marry off their
daughters at even younger ages/ Niger has one of the highest child marriage
rates in the world, according to UNICEF. Young girls are getting forced to get
married at such young ages in order to escape poverty. Given that home
situations are so bad they are giving their young daughters to marry middle aged
men. In Niger the legal age for marriage is 15. This law
only applies to civil ceremonies officiated by the state. Most village
marriages are sealed inside mosques and fall under 'traditional law'.
Not only are parents selling their young
babies, they are robbing them of their childhood. Although these girls do not
live a luxurious life, they still deserve to enjoy being a child in the poor
life they were given. They feel like giving their daughters hands in marriage
will result in one less mouth to feed and enough money to help feed others. The
country however fails to realize the damage caused by early marriage. According
to the International Center for Research on Women, girls younger than 15 are
five times likelier to die in childbirth than women in their 20s. This is a
very unjust act! Although I do understand the family is trying to survive, they
can find other ways others than selling their daughters to complete strangers. Not
only do they rob them from their most precious attribute, but they rob them of
the happiness they will never regain.
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