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Doing The Best For Children To End The Practice Of Child Marriages

Prevalence Of Child Marriages

Every year some 10 million girls under the age of 18 gets married, which translates to one every 3 seconds, says “Breaking Vows”, a report by Plan UK on child marriages. The trouble is that these marriages are not happy ones, and are the cause of much ill health among the young brides [...]

Child Marriage – New Saudi Fatwa Says No Minimum Age For Girls To Marry

“Even If They Are In The Cradle”

Child marriage is back in the news again.  A recent fatwa by a well-known Saudi cleric reasserts that there is no minimum age for a girl to get married.  This kind of fatwa is not new, but the latest fatwa goes one step further, by asserting that girls can be [...]

Kenyan School Secures Education For Girls By Offering “Dowry”

Education Instead Of Early Marriage

Using a bit of lateral thinking, a school in Kenya’s Rift Valley has managed to give Maasai girls an education instead of letting them be committed into an early marriage.

Dowry For Education

Traditionally, young girls in Kenya can be booked for marriage either through a dowry or, among members of the Samburu tribe, [...]

Child Marriage – A Practice Difficult To Curb

Prevalence Of Child Marriages

It is estimated that every year some 10-12 millions girls marry under the age of 18. Hence if the trend continues, over the next decade 100 million girls in the developing world will marry before they turn 18. It is not as though the adverse effects are not widely known, or that there [...]

Saudi Arabia Drafting Laws To Curb Child Marriage

“Murder Of Innonence And Violation Of Childhood”

Saudi Arabia appears to be taking serious steps to curb the widespread practise of child marriage, with a majority of the Shura members now supporting a proposal to end it. Shura member Zuhair-Al Harthi, who is the driving force behind this move to curb child marriage, described child marriage as [...]

Muslim Cleric Threatens Jihad Against Child Marriage Ban In Bangladesh

Threat Of Jihad

Bangladesh has recognized that its high prevalence of child marriage is a factor in the nation’s high maternal mortality rate, hence it has introduced incentives to encourage girls to stay on in school rather than leave early to get married, and it has pledged better enforcement of its Child Marriage Restraint Act. However, an [...]

Child Marriage Remains A Big Problem For Bangladesh

Why Child Marriage Is A Big Problem For Bangladesh

The maternal mortality rate in Bangladesh is 3.2 to 4 per 1000 livebirths. Efforts have been made to reduce this level through a skilled birth attendant training programme. But another factor contributing to this high maternal mortality is early marriage. “We cannot reduce maternal mortality and morbidity if [...]

Harmful Traditional Practices Against Women Still Widespread In Afghanistan

Law On The Elimination Of Violence Against Women In Afghanistan

The Law On The Elimination Of Violence Against Women In Afghanistan (EVAW law) was enacted in August 2009. This law makes it a crime to buy and sell women for marriage and to give girls away for dispute resolution, and it criminalizes forced and child marriage, forced [...]

Malaysian Government Does Not Intend To Ban Child Marriage

The Marriage That Sparked Calls For Ban To Child Marriage

Five months after the marriage of 14-year-old student at a religious school, Siti Maryam Mahmood to a 23-year-old teacher in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in July, the union suddenly attracted public attention. The publicity followed the couple’s participation in a mass wedding celebration organized by Kuala Lumpur’s [...]

Child Marriage – Now 10 Year Old Romanian Gypsy Girl Gives Birth

10-Year-Old New Mother

This is an inconceivable story that bewilders many people with a question – how it could happen in today’s modern world?  A 10-year-old Romanian gypsy girl gave birth recently in the Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera.  The baby’s father is understood to be a 13-year-old minor who lives in Romania. 

Mother And Baby [...]