Nana shakes the hand of Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird after speaking at a high-level panel on child marriage. Photo credit: Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
UNITED NATIONS, New York – “When I was age 16, my father wanted me to marry a 25-year-old man named Alhamza,” Nana told a room full of dignitaries and leaders at a high-level panel discussion on child marriage at the United Nations last week.
Child marriage is a human rights violation. The children involved – most often girls – are deprived of the right to choose when and whom to marry, one of the most fundamental and life-altering choices a person can make.
Yet it is all too common. In the Zinder Region of Niger, where Nana is from, about 70 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 are already married.
The toll of this abuse resonates throughout a girl’s life. Many girls are forced to drop out of school when they marry, because they are expected to tend to their husband’s homes. In Zinder, 89 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 are out of school.
Child marriage also often leads to adolescent pregnancy. Adolescents have higher rates of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. They therefore face higher rates of maternal mortality. In fact, pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death among older adolescents in developing countries. Adolescents also face higher rates of obstetric fistula, a devastating injury that can occur during an obstructed labour.
Извор: UNFPA – 29.09.2014
