The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child. Marriage act an act to make provisions for the celebration of marriages. Children should have childhoods and not be forced into marriages. A lot of people out there are one day hoping to find true love and live happily. Identify government aid towards the stopping of early marriage in nigeria. It repealed the marriage ordinance 1908, the marriage proclamation 1907, and the foreign marriage ordinance 19. Early marriage and its implications on the nigerian economy ssrn. The socioeconomic effect of early marriage in north. Child brides facing death sentences a decade after child marriage prohibited ten years after underage marriage was prohibited, 39% of girls. Child spouses this digest focuses on early marriage the marriage of children and young people under the age of 18 from a human rights perspective. Number of girls and women married in childhood in west and central africa nigeria 22 million benin 900,000.
The national strategic plan to end child marriage in nigeria 20162021 aims to highlight the multisectoral, multifaceted activities needed to end child marriage in nigeria. Many girls who are married off before they turn 18 or are forced into early marriages are made to leave school, depriving them of their right to education and future independence. In many parts of the world parents encourage the marriage of their daughters while they are still children in hopes that the marriage will benefit them both financially and socially, while also. Child marriage not in conformity with nigerian law. Early marriage is particularly prevalent in rural areas. Child marriage is the formal or informal marriage of a child under the age of 18 most often the marriage of a young girl to an older boy or man. Globally, 1 in 4 young women alive today were married in childhood versus 1 in 3 in the early 1980s. Early and forced marriage, child, child rights, nigeria. It is based on the premise of a coordination platform led by the federal ministry of women affairs and social development and cochaired by save the children. Abstract this brief has provided a basic profile of child marriage in nigeria. Indigenous marriage institutions and divorce in nigeria 166 obtains in one society, to a large extent influences that in another society 3,4. Should be able to tell if early marriage is higher in.
The alleged underage marriage provision is an existing law in the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria as contained in section 29 clauses 4b which states that any woman that. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and. To know the general attitude of the public towards early marriage. A visit to the worlds fifth poorest country has shown me that battling early and forced marriage begins with communities. The principal requirements of valid islamic law marriage are. Child marriages in india the red elephant foundation december 20 e 4 introduction child marriage refers to the marriage of a child younger than 18 years old,1 in accordance to article 1 of the convention on the right of the child. Pdf child marriage is often deployed as a response to crisis, considered by families and communities to be the best possible means of protecting. You may have heard a lot about nigerian traditional marriage. National strategy to end child marriage in nigeria 2016.
Early marriage in nigeria causes consequences and solution. Early marriage is used to refer both formal marriage and informal unions in which a girl lives with a partner as if married before age of 18,early marriage also known as child marriage is defined as any marriage carried out below the age of18 years before the girl is physically, physiologically. Ending child marriage and meeting the needs of married. Conversely, attending school and having higher levels of education protect girls from the possibility of early marriage. Forced early marriages are known to cause reproductive health risk to the girl child and they. Nigeria, particularly northern nigeria, has some of the highest rates of early marriage in the world.
Traditional marriage in urhobo the traditional marriage of the urhobo people is so unique that if people have a tribe to single out as one that have aone in all marriage arrangements, urhobo is there to be picked. Two types of consent are involved hereconsent of the parties and parental consent. Child marriage in west and central africa is one of. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls girls in many resourcepoor countries often have little choice about whom or when they marry. It was found that early marriage is the most common reason given for leaving school. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and forced. Child marriage is one of the burning problems of indian. While the age of marriage is generally on the rise, early marriage marriage of children and adolescents below the age of 18 is still widely practiced. Marriage act 4 years ago admin laws and acts governing the system.
Progress is most dramatic when it comes to the marriage of girls under 15 years of age. Having established the significant prevalence of early marriage in nigeria, and the social constructs that. If you are lucky enough to find your love, sooner or later you will have to legitimize your relationship. A harmful traditional practice 11 women who had used modern contraception. Nigeria is the 11th highest nation in the world for percentage of child marriages data shows a 9% decline in the prevalence of child marriage compared to 2003. Limited education and economic options little or no schooling strongly correlates with being married at a young age. The state of married adolescents in northern nigeria. All hands therefore need to be on deck to solve this problem since children are too immature both physically and mentally to fight on their own. The child rights act, passed in 2003, raised the minimum age. According to an assessment conducted by unicef in 2005, among women ages 15 to 24, 48 percent were married before the age of 18 in south asia, 42 percent in africa, and 29 percent in latin america. Early and forced marriages in nigeria exists and needs to be curbed on time. Child marriage in niger is a cultural issue, not an islamic one. The experience of married adolescent girls in northern nigeria. Child, early, and forced marriage and psychological trauma of girls in northeast.
Identify the effect of early marriage on the academic performance on girl child. Effect of child marriage on girls school dropout in nepal. Early marriage refers to any marriage before the legal age of marriage which may differ from country to country the legal age of marriage differs by sex, for example, in some countries in africa it is 18 for males and only 15 for females. The merger of northern and southern nigeria in 1914 made it imperative to streamline the marriage laws in the new political entity, nigeria. Although marriage under islamic law possesses most of the features of customary law marriage already discussed, it is necessary to consider, that system separately. Help put an end to early and forced marriage and the damage it causes to a girls health and her wellbeing. Traditional marriage in nigeria, see all the tribes. One specific health problem associated with earlyforced marriage that is particularly prevalent in. The implications of early marriage on the girlchild that negatively impacts her wellbeing and that of the. The study, by unicef, show that there is always a negative correlation between the time of marriage and the number of children. End early and forced marriage for girls in nigeria. For instance, infidelity, infertility, laziness and unhygienic behaviours are some of the major causes of divorce in many societies and women with these attributes are usually returned to their parents. Trends in marriage and divorce figure 1 lays out some facts about marriage and divorce in the united states over the last 150 years. The share of women ages 1822 who married as children is 42.
Short title this act may be cited as the marriage act. Negative effects of early marriage on girls include early widowhood, the spread of hivaids, prostitution, family problems, medical problems, and suicide bamgbose july 2002, 45. Median age at first marriage or union among women aged 20 to 24 years, in selected countries the practice of child marriage is slowly declining. Major types of marriage in nigeria updated 2019 legit. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls. The risk of girls dropping out peaks in the seventh and eighth grades and. This was achieved through the marriage ordinance 1914, which applied throughout nigeria. The majority of girls in the north experience first sex in. In minna, nigeria, where conservative sharia islamic law is in effect, the international centre for reproductive health and sexual rights increse is helping to prevent child marriage by educating girls and empowering. In 2017 in nigeria, 43% of girls are married off before the age of 18.
The share of girls marrying very early, before the age of 15. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and forced marriage through acquiring skills findings from implementation research in nigeria judithann walker tuesday, august 6, 2019. An early married couple is usually expected to have more children than a relatively late married couple early marriage. Shahidul international islamic university of malaysia malaysia a. Pdf early marriage and its implications on the nigerian economy. The 2003 nigeria demographic and health survey ndhs shows that early marriage is prevalent across nigeria.
Zehadul karim international islamic university of malaysia malaysia abstract though a lot of research have been concerned with school dropout issue for both girls and boys. Besides having a negative impact on girls themselves. Introduction marriage before the age of 18 is a reality for many young women. The impact of early marriage taking action the need for research in conclusion links references innocenti digest no. Early marriage has been a common practice among many ethnic groups in the world. Overall, the risk of school dropout due to marriage heightens after girls complete the fifth or sixth grade. Legality of child marriage in nigeria and inhibitions against realisation of education rights kayode olatunbosun fayokun obafemi awolowo university, ileife, nigeria early marriage forces girls into adulthood before they are emotionally and physically matured, leading to a range of harmful effects on their health, education, and economic and. In many cultures, including that of nigeria, marriage is regarded as a legitimate way for two.
Nigeria has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5. The paper examines the socioeconomic effect of early marriage in north western nigeria using zaria local government as a case study. Legal issues, complications, implications, prospects and solutions article pdf available january 2014 with,619 reads how we measure reads. However, marriage is regarded as a moment of celebration and a. Marriage traditions is one of such culturally resplendent practices and jumia travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 interesting nigerian marriage traditions to know. While early marriage takes many different forms and has various causes, one issue is paramount.
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