scholarly journals Child marriage briefing: Nigeria

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world. More than two out of three Nigerians live on less than US$1 a day, and life expectancy is 52 years. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating effect on the country, and Nigeria has some of the highest rates of early marriage worldwide. The Child Rights Act, passed in 2003, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls. However, federal law may be implemented differently at the state level, and to date only a few of the country’s 36 states have begun developing provisions to execute the law. Domestic violence is widespread and a high prevalence of child marriage exists. Nationwide, 20 percent of girls are married by age 15, and 40 percent are married by age 18. Although the practice of polygyny is decreasing, 27 percent of married girls aged 15–19 are in polygynous marriages. Included in this brief are recommendations to promote later, chosen, and legal marriage.

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Mozambique. Mozambique, in southeastern Africa, is home to 17.5 million people, with 45 percent of its population under age 15. More than three-quarters of Mozambicans live on less than US$2 a day. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating effect on the country; approximately 1.3 million adults and children are living with HIV, and 470,000 children have been orphaned because of AIDS. Life expectancy has fallen to 34 years, among the lowest levels in the world. Mozambique has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Several local women’s rights groups have begun speaking out about this issue and were instrumental in ensuring the passage of the recent Family Law, which raises the minimum age of marriage for girls from 14 to 18, allows women to inherit property in the case of divorce, and legally recognizes traditional marriages. However, little capacity exists to implement the law. Included in this brief are recommendations to promote later, chosen, and legal marriage.


2005 ◽  
Author(s):  

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Zambia. This landlocked southern African nation is home to 10.9 million people, with 47 percent of its population under age 15. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world; nearly two out of three Zambians live on less than US$1 a day. The country’s economic growth was hindered by declining copper prices and a prolonged drought in the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, the AIDS epidemic has taken a devastating toll: 920,000 adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS, and 630,000 children have been orphaned because of the disease. Child marriage is widespread in Zambia, even though the legal age of marriage is 21 for both males and females. Customary law and practice discriminate against girls and women with respect to inheritance, property, and divorce rights. Domestic violence is a serious problem, with over half of married girls reporting ever experiencing physical violence and more than a third reporting abuse in the past year. Included in this brief are recommendations to promote later, chosen, and legal marriage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatum Abubakar

In this paper I want to compare of legal law in Indonesia and Pakistan about early marriage. In Indonesia, marriage law No. 1/ 1974 explained that the limit of age of marriage is sixteen (16) years for women and nineteen (19) years for men. In Pakistan, after the 1961 MFLO amendment, Pakistan established the minimum age of marriage under the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, is eighteen (18) years for men and sixteen (16) years for women. In addition to Law No. 1 of 1974, in Indonesia, the KHI is clearly repeating Article 15 Paragraph (2), for candidates who have not reached the age of 21 years, they must obtain permission as provided in Article 6 Paragraph (2), (3), (4), and (5) of Law No. 1 year 1974. Otherwise, in Indonesia this regulation is slower than other perversions country that I mention. The questions in this paper are; first, why does the legislation of Indonesia provides dispensation of marriage in the Court for prospective couples under the age of marriage? Second, why does Pakistan's legislation give prison sanctions and penalties for married couples under the age of marriage? Thirdly, why does the legislation of Indonesia and Pakistan implement different determination of law for early marriage? The conclusion; if both prospective brides are still below the minimum age for marriage, the parents of the two brides-to-be may submit a marriage dispensation in a religious court. Dispensation of this marriage is regulated in Minister of Religious Affairs Regulation No. 3 year 1975, specifically for people who are Moslems. This matter the marriage law also provides an outlet as a solution if the minimum age requirement is not met. Otherwise, In Pakistan, Historically; the marriage of children is in conflict between those who feel established and those who want change by reforming their family law. So, MFLO 1961 came out of the outcome of the change of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 to sanction marriage with fines and imprisonment for married couples who are married under the minimum age set for marriage. Even sanctions are given for parents, guardian, and marriage organizers as well as even more than the sanctions given to his son. Even if the renewal of Islamic law in the Indonesia have been done. Indonesia is somewhat late in doing Islamic law reform than Pakistan.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-177
Author(s):  
Nur Wahid

This paper examines the minimum age requirement for marriage in Indonesian family law legislation in Indonesia historically. Determination of the minimum age for marriage in various countries is the result of ijtihad by considering the principle of physical and psychological maturity. In Indonesian marriage legislation sating that marriage is only permitted if the man reaches the age of 19 (nineteen) years and the woman has reached 16 (sixteen) years. Early marriage has several risks such as potential premature births, birth defects, maternal depression rates, maternal mortality rates, risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, the authors strongly agree that the minimum age of marriage in Indonesia changed to 19 years


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-105
Author(s):  
Umi Supraptiningsih ◽  
Erie Hariyanto

Abstract. Child marriages as well as the prosession are happen due to the role of both ulama (the Islamic leaders) and the community leaders. This paper aimed at exploring the perception of ulama and the community leaders in line with the factors of child marriage as well as the minimum age of marriage. The descriptive qualitative were implemented in this study. Meanwhile, the data were gathered by conducting observation, interview, and documentation. The first finding of the study is in line with the factors of child marriages. The educational background of the parents and the children, economic factors, cultural factors, and the uncontrolled relationship among teens were regarded to influence the child marriage in Pamekasan. Second, the ulama and the community leader argued that the child marriage should be avoided because it determine the life of the spouse after marriage. It must be considered that marriage is a time to realize the happy family (sakinah). Therefore, maturation is important in attempt to mentally and economically prepare for the marriage. Also, the limitation of marriage is not merely about the minimum age, but also the preoparation and the in-depth understanding of the spouse. Third, there is no clear statement in Alquran regard to the minimum age of marriage. Alquran stated akil baligh as the requirement. Meanwhile, the marriage law stated that minimum age for man is 19 years old and 16 years old for woman. In child protection laws, the minimum age for both man and woman are 18 years old. Abstrak. Perkawinan Anak dapat terjadi karena peran serta dari para ulama atau tokoh masyarakat, begitu pula prosesi perkawinan dengan restu keduanya. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peranan ulama dan tokoh masyarakat Kabupaten Pamekasan dalam terwujudnya perkawinan anak serta pendapat tentang batasan usia perkawinan. Metode penelitian mengunakan pendekatan kualitatif (qualitative approach) dan metode deskriptif, sedangkan teknik pengumpulan data melalui observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Ada beberapa temuan dalam penelitian ini yaitu pertama Perkawinan anak masih saja terjadi diwilayah Kabupaten Pamekasan, hal ini dilatar belakangi beberapa faktor, yaitu faktor rendahnya pendidikan baik dari orang tua maupun anak, tidak adanya aktifitas atau kegiatan karena selepas dari pesantren atau MA mereka menganggur, faktor ekonomi, faktor budaya atau tradisi, dan faktor pergaulan bebas; kedua Para ulama dan tokoh masyarakat berpendapat bahwa perkawinan anak harus dihindarikarena berdampak pada kelangsungan rumah tangga yang tentunya pasca perkawinan adalah waktu yang panjang untuk mewujudkan rumah tangga yang sakinah. Pendewasaan perkawinan penting karena untuk mempersiapkan mental dan ekonomi dalam sebuah perkawinan. Batasan perkawinan tidak hanya sekedar usia namun persiapan dan pemahaman hak dan kewajiban bagi pasangan yang harus matang. Ketiga Batasan usia pernikahan dalam Al Qur’an dan hadis tidak secara jelas disebutkan hanya menjelaskan akil baliq, sedangkan dalam Undang- Undang Perkawinan usia 19 tahun bagi laki-laki dan 16 tahun bagi perempuan. Dalam UU Perlindungan ana laki-laki dan perempuan sama yaitu 18 tahun ke atas.


Author(s):  
Ashwini Tambe

Chapter 4 returns to the intergovernmental arena to examine another effort to harmonize a common age of consent: a UN-led universal age of marriage. It documents how the trajectory of UN interest in setting a common age in the 1950s and 1960s was shaped by another commitment, that of abolishing slavery. In particular, it shows that antislavery discourse was mobilized in the context of geopolitical hierarchies: the focus on child marriage turned the discussion of slavery away from the United Kingdom, United States, and European states, which had historically been the principal perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade, to former colonies. In displacing the gaze away from the British slave trade to newly independent states, the UN discourse on marriage shifted moral responsibility for enslavement from historically culpable nations to many of those oppressed by them. An imperial logic thus informed efforts to raise the age of marriage. Indian delegates played an obstructionist role throughout the process, claiming it compromised the power of parents. Ultimately, India refused to sign the 1962 Convention on Minimum Age of Marriage.


2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minzee Kim ◽  
Wesley Longhofer ◽  
Elizabeth Heger Boyle ◽  
Hollie Nyseth Brehm

Author(s):  
Ashwini Tambe

At what age do girls gain the maturity to make sexual choices? This question provokes especially vexed debates in India, where early marriage is a widespread practice. India has served as a focal problem site in NGO campaigns and intergovernmental conferences setting age standards for sexual maturity. Over the last century, the country shifted the legal age of marriage from twelve, among the lowest in the world, to eighteen, at the high end of the global spectrum. Ashwini Tambe illuminates the ideas that shaped such shifts: how the concept of adolescence as a sheltered phase led to delaying both marriage and legal adulthood; how the imperative of population control influenced laws on marriage age; and how imperial moral hierarchies between nations provoked defensive postures within India. Tambe's transnational feminist approach to legal history shows how intergovernmental debates influenced Indian laws and how expert discourses in India changed UN terminology about girls. Ultimately, the well-meaning focus on child marriage became tethered less to the well-being of girls themselves and more to parents' interests, population control targets, and the preservation of national reputation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 851-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild Louise Muriaas ◽  
Liv Tønnessen ◽  
Vibeke Wang

Legislating a minimum age of marriage at 18 has stirred counter-mobilization in some, but not all, countries where religious or traditional institutions enjoy constitutional authority. To explore differences between states regarding likelihood of counter-mobilization, we investigate two cases in Africa. In Sudan, a government-led child marriage reform initiative has sparked counter-mobilization by conservative religious actors, while a similar initiative in Zambia has not caused visible counter-mobilization among traditional groups and has gained the support of many chiefs. With the literature on doctrinal gender status issues as theoretical background, we argue that the nature of law—codified versus living—is a factor in these distinct trajectories. We further identify variations in two mechanisms, legal power structure (centralized vs decentralized) and type of political battle (interpretation vs administration), that link nature of law to variation in the likelihood of counter-mobilization.


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