#idg2013

Today on the International Day of the Girl, let’s take a moment to reflect on the following statistics: 14 million girls are married every year. One out of three girls in the developing world will be married off before the age of 18. More than 60% of women are married before the age of 18 in the four countries where child marriage is most common.

Why are so many girls robbed of the right to make a choice and to envision a future of their own making?

Systemic poverty, lack of education, fears of sexual assault and loss of virginity, and discriminatory cultural norms contribute to the stunning prevalence of child marriage worldwide. And the practice is on the rise – if nothing changes, the UNFPA predicts that developing countries will witness an increase in child marriage: 142 million from now until 2020 and 151 million in the subsequent decade.

Child marriage is a human rights abuse. The right to freely choose a marriage partner and consent to marriage is fundamental, and child marriage triggers a series of serious violations. High maternal mortality amongst young mothers implicates the right to life – pregnancy is the leading cause of death worldwide for women aged 15 to 19 in low and middle-income countries. Girls have a right to health, yet child brides face a higher risk of contracting HIV. Girls have the right to freedom from torture and cruelty, yet children who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence – chastised both as children and as wives - than peers who marry later, and child brides often show signs symptomatic of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Girls have a right to nondiscrimination and equality, a right to privacy, and rights to education and work. Access to education and child marriage are inversely correlated – 63% of girls under 18 with no education are married, as compared to 20% of those with secondary education or higher. The vast majority of girls end their schooling once they marry.

Multi-level action to stop this ongoing abuse is necessary. In a positive sign, this October 4th the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution dedicated to ending child marriage, co-sponsored by over 100 countries. The Girl Effect recently launched the Girl Declaration, demanding that we put girls and child marriage on the post-2015 development agenda.  And after reports that 8 year-old Rawan of Yemen died of internal injuries following her wedding night with her 40 year old husband, the country’s human rights minister called for child marriage to be outlawed, raising cautious hopes for the future.

Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights is releasing a briefing paper on Child Marriage in South Asia and Accountability for Child Marriage. We hope that these reports, and our Center’s memorandum on Child Marriage in Bangladesh, will help empower us as we move forward in our struggle for accountability and the fulfillment of girls’ fundamental rights.

This October 11th, International Day of the Girl - to coin a phrase from The Girl Effect: the clock is ticking.