I saw an interview on Al Jazeera of an old guy who had taken a child bride. He thought it was his God given right to take a child bride and it was 'his teachings' that had given him the right.
The programme was highlighting issues of child brides focusing on the lack of choice for the girls.
Apparently worldwide there are annually ten million girls under the age of eighteen who are married off against their will.
I read 'It Takes Only One Girl' by Gabriella - she has created a blog because she wants enlighten the world and to empower child brides.
Gabriella points out that daily, 23, 000 child brides are married off throughout the world. And if you imagine a (barely) teenage girl being married off to a fifty plus year old man, you should feel at least some outrage.
Of course 'marrying' means 'nuptials', and that means driving something large into something small - possibly with some force! This is bad enough, but soon these very young girls find themselves pregnant.
The result of a difficult birth process is that the birth canal is damaged, ruptured, as well as the lower bowel because the canals are very close.
The result is that these kids lose control of their bodily wastes, and to put it crudely, they leak with the inevitable causes smell, causing them to be abandoned as being 'repulsive'! This leads to a life of pain and being ostracized.
This medical condition has a name - obstetric fistulous. The condition can be successfully treated with an operation costing US$450.
Gabriella focuses on the power of education as the means to eliminate the practice of child brides. She also believes that saving just one girl constitutes a victory!
I would go further, saving one child from any of the terrible occurrences that frequent this Earth is indeed a victory and education is a key that opens so many doors.
I tend to be a little more impatient. First I saw at the cost of repairing these small, often frail bodies the cost seemed low, but multiply that by the need and it amounts to a substantial figure.However, some of the countries that all the practice of child brides are rich. Still somehow funds must be found to address the wider problem.
The thing is barring accidents that will happen statistically, obstetric fistulous could be eliminated if the practice of taking child brides was stamped out!
To balance the equation, there must be a few of these old codgers who are nice to their child brides which may be a positive thing for the girl. So I am not saying all the oldies are necessarily bad. But the bulk of them are are! And and anyway if the girl has no say or control, civilization should change that!
This 'cause' is the stuff of feminist movements, because, of course females identify with the problem more easily.
However to stamp the thing out, you need governments, justice and the police to be on side. Most are usually these are masculine roles. And those people don't readily identify with the girls, (actually most couldn't care less) - they are more likely to identify with the old codgers, especially if the old buggers slip them something nice under the table - or openly!
So anyone who cares should lobby their government to apply pressure on the governments of countries where child brides are acceptable. Not at all easy, and education has a role here. The message needs to be 'out there'!
As that guy said on Al Jazeera, it is his God given right to take a child bride. If that is what they believe, then religious leaders have a role and need to be taken to account as even passive tolerance amount to condoning. The guy is wrong, no God sanctions child brides!
Within cultures there is order and tradition. Making changes can tip balances and cause chaos, so I believe that cultures evolve and it is unwise to aggressively impose change from the outside. Education is a good and handy - but cutting dicks off might achieve quicker results!
However this particular issue needs changing from today and the downstream implications can be dealt with as they arise.
Therefore, shaming the guys who take child brides seems to me to be the way to achieve quickest results.
Shaming like : Saying, 'This man has taken a child bride so she will not expose his impotency. He hires boys to impregnate his wife because he can't do it himself.' Name the men!
Maybe that's all too extreme and difficult - but I hope I have highlighted the issue.
I would go further, saving one child from any of the terrible occurrences that frequent this Earth is indeed a victory and education is a key that opens so many doors.
I tend to be a little more impatient. First I saw at the cost of repairing these small, often frail bodies the cost seemed low, but multiply that by the need and it amounts to a substantial figure.However, some of the countries that all the practice of child brides are rich. Still somehow funds must be found to address the wider problem.
The thing is barring accidents that will happen statistically, obstetric fistulous could be eliminated if the practice of taking child brides was stamped out!
To balance the equation, there must be a few of these old codgers who are nice to their child brides which may be a positive thing for the girl. So I am not saying all the oldies are necessarily bad. But the bulk of them are are! And and anyway if the girl has no say or control, civilization should change that!
This 'cause' is the stuff of feminist movements, because, of course females identify with the problem more easily.
However to stamp the thing out, you need governments, justice and the police to be on side. Most are usually these are masculine roles. And those people don't readily identify with the girls, (actually most couldn't care less) - they are more likely to identify with the old codgers, especially if the old buggers slip them something nice under the table - or openly!
So anyone who cares should lobby their government to apply pressure on the governments of countries where child brides are acceptable. Not at all easy, and education has a role here. The message needs to be 'out there'!
As that guy said on Al Jazeera, it is his God given right to take a child bride. If that is what they believe, then religious leaders have a role and need to be taken to account as even passive tolerance amount to condoning. The guy is wrong, no God sanctions child brides!
Within cultures there is order and tradition. Making changes can tip balances and cause chaos, so I believe that cultures evolve and it is unwise to aggressively impose change from the outside. Education is a good and handy - but cutting dicks off might achieve quicker results!
However this particular issue needs changing from today and the downstream implications can be dealt with as they arise.
Therefore, shaming the guys who take child brides seems to me to be the way to achieve quickest results.
Shaming like : Saying, 'This man has taken a child bride so she will not expose his impotency. He hires boys to impregnate his wife because he can't do it himself.' Name the men!
Maybe that's all too extreme and difficult - but I hope I have highlighted the issue.
