There are 60 million "child brides" in the world, according to the UN. The wedding day arrives usually between 12 and 14 years, sometimes even earlier. The husband is often an older man, never met before.
The organization American International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) has compiled a "Top 20" countries in which marriages of minors are most common: Niger is the first place (76.6% of brides are under 18 years), followed by Chad, Bangladesh, Mali, Guinea, Central African Republic, Nepal, Mozambique, Uganda, Burkina Faso, India, Ethiopia, Liberia, Yemen, Cameroon, Eritrea, Malawi, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Zambia. The "ranking" (see photo) is based on standardized questionnaires but these are not available for all countries. Stay away from statistics, for example, much of the Middle East.
countries of the Top 20 are the poorest in the world. The child brides come from the poorest families in these countries.
In Central and West Africa, one third of girls brides say their husbands have at least 11 years older than them. In all countries in the Top 20 there are cases where the age difference is decades: even 70 years. How do you explain that? When there is a 'price for the bride, "it takes years of work because a man can afford a young woman. In polygamous unions, moreover, as the husband ages new wives are getting younger.
brides girls are denied the opportunity to study and work: thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty from which they come. They can not leave her husband because they do not have the money to return the dowry, and divorce is often considered unacceptable. The problem is not only early marriage, early childbirth, but also. Death in childbirth is five times more likely for girls under 15 years than for teens, according to the agency for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). In sub-Saharan Africa, in addition, various studies show that girls are married are more likely to contract AIDS than single girls and sexually active: lose their virginity with sick husbands and do not have the power to deny or ask them to use condoms.
Author: Viviana Mazza
Source: www.corriere.it
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