Talk:Child marriage

dupe of Arranged marriage

The content here is a dupe of Arranged marriage, but i'm not sure if it should a redirect, or made not a dupe. Morwen 21:21, Dec 22, 2003 (UTC)

The two are significantly different from eachother now, but they should list eachother in their "see also" sections. I'll go do that right now. Icarus 04:43, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

IP contribution

pokpok kayo!!! The following text was inserted at the bottom of the article by an IP user. It is relatively POV and unencyclopedic, so I've moved it here. — Timwi 16:40, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

India has no law on child sexual abuse though we have a legislation loosely drafted under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929. The Child Marriage Restrain Act has only cosmetic value. For effective implementation compulsory registration of marriages should be made and violation of the Act be made in recognized offence.

Child marriage is nothing but the practice of giving away children especially minor girls by their parents in order to be rid of the economic burden which will arise in the form of her marriage once she is a major. These girls are sent to the matrimonial homes as soon as they are married, thus providing ample opportunity to any member to abuse her for the purposes of domestic work, bonded labour and sexual violation, all under the garb of marriage and custom.

Gripped by a number of superstitions and low literacy rates as the laws restraining child marriages are violated year after year on auspicious days and festivals like Ram Navami, Akshaya Tritiya, Karma Jayanti and Basant Panchami. Hundreds of people flock to the site of these mass weddings and take pride in celebrating these marriages. In Rajasthan on the festival of Teej, the most auspicious time of the year, it is customary in the Gurjar, Jat and Rawat castes to solemnize child marriages en masse.

Traditionally, after a minor girl is married off, she is meant to remain in her parental home until she attains puberty. Once it is deemed appropriate, she is given a ceremonial send off to her matrimonial home (this practice is called ‘Gauna’). In reality, the tradition is rarely observed among the Baiga, Marrar and Kanwar tribes of Chattisgarh. The people of the Gond, Kewat, and Rajak communities also indulge in this discriminatory tradition. As soon as the marriage takes place, the girl who may be anywhere between 2 -14 years old, is sent away to her matrimonial house. The reasons for this vary with each family, dowry being the most common. The belief is younger the girl, the lesser the demand for dowry. Other factors that fuel this practices is the responsibility involved in rearing an unmarried daughter, as well as the attached social stigma.

Raising the literacy level of adolescent females should receive an overriding priority. Investments and improvements in educational sector including its vocationalization could open the alternative avenues to marriage through expanded work and other options for adolescent boys and girls at the same time up grading their literacy and personal empowerment levels.

In public solemnisation of en masse marriages are presumed to be in the knowledge of the authorities, as to who should be held accountable. If individual child marriages take place without the knowledge of the authorities and they are brought to their knowledge and if no action is taken by them then authorities equally accountable. Registration to be done by Panchayat secretaries in every village. Panchayat Secretary will only register marriages between adults, in the presence of witnesses (beyond family). If Panchayat Secretary is aware of any child marriage being taking place/ to take place or having taken place, he shall be bound to immediately i.e. within 24 hrs report the matter in writing to the police, collector etc and take steps within the village to prevent child marriages. Registration of births, deaths as per the Registrar of births and deaths Act.

• Generate awareness programmes by broadcasting the order on television/radio /local media/school curricula
• Superintendent of Police & SHO to be held accountable

Collector, BDO or equivalent officer, panchayat secretary in rural areas

• In urban areas registration of child marriages under Municipality offices
• Registration by District/sub registrar under the Special Marriage Act.

By: Ms. Vaishali Sood is a Women’s Rights Advocate based in New Delhi

I think the above contribution, although quite one-sided, is a good representation of how quasi-modern society in India is dealing with the problem. Very specific to the perceived ills of Indian child marriages, it deserves to be part of a seperate article along with the opposite POV of course. Pranab 21:28, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I also agree that the above was a clearly opinionated, but also very well writen. If Ms. Vaishali Sood is the anon I.P., we would be lucky indeed to have her as a contributer. Either way, an excellent read, thank you. Sam Spade 05:49, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

grammar

"Child marriage is a practice in which the parents of a small child (even infants) arrange a future marriage with another child's parents." So Susie's parents arranger for her to mary Mr. and Mr. Johnny? I changed this.

Globalize tag

Please see the reason for my edit at Template_talk:Globalize#Examples_vs._Perspectives. Xiner (talk, email) 00:50, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Child Marriage Prevention Programs

I'm a relatively new wikipedia user, so please excuse any lack of protocol.

Would this be an appropriate page to post a list of child marriage prevention programs that are operating in the developing world? I could make a new section above the "See Also" section labeled "Child Marriage Prevention Programs" with a current list of programs, listed by region and including Web sites if they are available.

Or would it be more appropriate to create a seperate wikipedia page? Thanks for any input or ideas you may have.

Breadintern 19:12, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Please verify your data on child marriages in the Philippines. I know that the Philippine Family Code does not condone marriages before the age of 18.

"results" of child marriage

Feel free to disagree with me, but I don't believe you can really claim that "particular problems which child marriage has resulted in," include "obstetric fistulae, prematurity, childbirth mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, including cervical cancer, and malaria."

Those (at least some of them) are results of sexual behavior and early childbirth, neither of which are always results of marriage, especially child marriage. Being married doesn't mean you have sex, and it certainly doesn't mean you give birth. What's more, I would say that STDs are, if anything, more often prevented by marriage than caused by it.

Certainly it's possible that one could demonstrate a higher incidence of these things in child marriages, but they are not direct results of the marriages.

Also, last I checked, malaria is not an STD. It is caused by mosquito bites, and very occasionally blood transfusions, but I don't think those are results of child marriage, either.

I am not comfortable with doing major edits yet, but if someone else agrees with me, perhaps they might do so. Thanks! RB3 17:14, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't say that malaria is an STD. Malaria continues the list of "prematurity, childbirth mortality, STDs, and malaria". Cervical cancer is given as an example of an STD. Anyway, I was also goofed by how malaria can be caused by child marriage, but I found a pretty good source for it that explains it well and is credible, so added that. Therefore, I don't think this should be removed. Jenste (talk) 15:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

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Well, i will disagree with part of what you say. You are correct in saying that child marriage, in and of itself, does not result in fistula, maternal or infant mortality or anything else. However, child brides are more likely to suffer from these conditions than women who marry in their 20s (see either of the ICRW references).

As to STDs. Unfortunately, many child brides are married to much older men who are likely to have had previous sexual partners. And child brides are not usually allowed to demand that their husband use a condom, as one would in this country. There was a small study in Kenya, i believe, that showed that girls who have sex outside of marriage are actually less likely to contract HIV because, in part, they are able to negotiate condom use. Again, simply being married does not cause STDs, but in many parts of the world, it is certainly not a protective factor. And i agree that malaria is certainly not an STD.

While marriage does not demand that sex occur, it is common in areas where child marriage is common that the girl begin intercourse soon after menarche. As described earlier, gender and age dynamics limit the ability of child brides to resist sexual debut, sometimes by force of their husband.

Much of this information can be found here (http://www.icrw.org/html/getinvolved/aboutchildmarriage.htm) 209.183.203.210 19:29, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

cleanup/list of groups

Of course all groups trying to stop this practice are lovely, but that part of the article is sort of in list form and not very wikified. Merkinsmum 00:38, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Well its been months since this tag was on. And any rate it should not read like an advert to specific programs. Citations to show opponents are working hard against it are good, but one must also have the proponent view. Lihaas (talk) 17:50, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Definition of child

The definition of child varies throughout the article and may vary in the references cited. A reader who does not pick up on this can come away with an incorrect interpretation of the article. In places, it also conflicts with the definition of the word in the country or culture under discussion and/or conflicts with the definition the reader may have in mind.

I recommend adding text to the opening stating that the definition of "child marriage" varies with country and culture, and spelling out the definition in use in each part of the article. In places, the article will need to be changed: For example, in the United States, "child marriage" is generally considered marriage before age 16-18, which is generally not allowed without a court order. The current wording of that paragraph states that "Child marriage is legal in the United States." This should be changed to "In the United States, the term child marriage generally refers to marriage before the age of 14-16. In most of the United States the age of marriage is 16 or older with parental consent except under special circumstances such as a court order or pregnancy." This will reflect the usage in the United States. Similar changes should be made in other parts of the article. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 18:44, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Its 16 in the US? i didnt know that. except maybe utah, and Yearning for Zion. but yeah, with variations it makes perfect sense to do so. maybe a map of the definition would be best. can someone make this? Lihaas (talk) 03:23, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

US laws vary by state, but according to Marriageable_age#Americas even with parental consent you have to be 16 or a judge's approval in almost every state. California, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio appear to be exceptions but most of those you have to be 15, pregnant, or a father-to-be to marry without court approval. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 05:15, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

child marrige in michigan

I am pretty sure in mich a person can marry at 17 with permission from either the parents or caregiver (caregivers)all across the country it is 18 without permission--Sweetheart2009 (talk) 01:10, 10 July 2009 (UTC)sweetheart2009