Picture-Perfect Wedding

This week, the world's attention will turn to a historic royal wedding. Millions of people will be talking about the dress, the guests the fashions and the parties. It's an exciting event that everyone, including us, wants to celebrate. Yet somewhere around the world, a very different kind of wedding will be taking place: A girl under the age of 15 will be married against her will. Far from pomp and circumstance, her wedding will be one that will halt her chances for an education, increase her chances of dying during childbirth, and put her in one of the highest risk categories for HIV/AIDS.

"Wedding" -- it's a powerful word. For many it calls up beautiful images: flowers, kisses, smiling friends, supportive families, tears of joy. No matter what your image of the "perfect" wedding looks like, there's one thing we're sure it does not include: a child bride.

Tragically, millions of brides around the world are young girls who are forced into marriage. One in seven girls in developing countries (excluding China) is married before her fifteenth birthday (with some girls married as early as 5 years old). Robbed of their childhood, child brides are subjected to increased health risks and the likelihood of poverty.

Up to half the girls in developing countries become mothers before they turn 18. Girls who have children at a young age tend to leave school earlier and have more children than those who begin having children later in life. With less education, it's harder for younger moms to provide for their families. If you think about the pattern, the tragic picture becomes clear: forcing a young girl to marry creates a vicious cycle that can leave each successive generations entrenched in deeper poverty.

Girls who start having babies at a young age are exposed to dangerous health risks. The leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide is medical complications due to pregnancy. Girls who are forced into marriage are more likely to suffer from HIV/AIDS.

While the statistics are daunting, there is hope. Developing nations around the world are making efforts to combat child marriage by changing laws and enforcing existing ones. Now we need to create international pressure to spur faster change.

That's why hundreds of thousands of U.S. teen girls have already joined a movement to support their peers in developing countries. The United Nations Foundation's Girl Up campaign is building the bridge between girls in this country with girls in developing countries to raise awareness and funds for UN programs. They are uniting to send a message that being forced into marriage is unfair and unacceptable.

The American teens in this movement are smart, globally aware, and more philanthropic than any generation in our nation's history. Over the next few weeks, these girls are rallying together in the fight against child marriage. Thousands of these girls are signing a petition that will be delivered to the Obama Administration stating that child marriage is unacceptable, unfair, and must be stopped. By taking this action, these girls are saying, "Girls my age are too young to choose to marry, and no one should be forced into marriage." They are engaging in a dialogue, and focusing global attention on an issue we all too often ignore.

So picture this: A world in which no girl is ever forced into marriage before she is old enough or against her will. Our youth are taking a stand to make this beautiful picture a reality. If we do not stand with them, we paint a bleak future for 600 million girls around the world. That's not a picture any of us wants to see.

 

Comments

[Miss Peaches]

10:25 AM on 05/03/2011

What is sad is that in the places these marriages take place, it's considered normal. It's acutally preditory. My husband is foreign born was elated to find we have laws here in the United States protecting children from such abuses. In his country many of the parents condone a 25, 35 year old man with a 13, 14, 15 year girl. Such a tragedy.

[Sapphire Rose]

11:37 PM on 04/29/2011

This is why undeveloped countries need the most attention.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

08:25 PM on 04/29/2011

Interesting that this article is written by a man who is a judge on a modeling show...yes the women are not forced but the show certainly objectifies women and emphasizes fashion and appearance over true accomplishments and skills. It's not okay to force marriages but I think the author is not recognizing his part is the treatment of women worldwide.

[Jericho the Red]

04:45 PM on 04/30/2011

as for judging Nigel Barker for being involved in the modeling field, he started out as a model and became a world renowned photographer, his wife is a make up artist and used to be a model as well...
He is one of the good apples, thrying to change things from within.. One should never judge soemone, except by their works and their character..
Nigel Barker is a good apple and has produced many beautiful images WITHOUT using and discarding young girls, or forcing them into a unhealthy lifestyle.. He is about education and the fashoin industry...
You may not care for the fashoin industry as a whole, BUT- some are trying to evolve it. Find out which ones who are before painting them with the same brush..

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:26 PM on 04/30/2011

I never said he was a terrible person or a bad apple. I am judging him on his works...at least his job as a judge on a modeling show that is about as shallow as it can be. There is a concept in law called "having clean hands". He has nothing to do with forcing marriages but he does make his living judging women on their appearances and taking pictures of women that objectifies them. I just was pointing out his part in the whole picture of how women are treated worldwide...he is certainly not resposnbile for the whole thing...but he is using women (and men, but ATP is a" women's cattle call show" wrapped up in a disguise as something less shallow than it really is) to make money.

[lhanderson86]

06:25 PM on 04/29/2011

I don't know... I'm ambivalent about this... 18 years old is not a child, not in a lot of these cultures. I feel like we are imposing our cultural norms on others... Forced marriage is not good for anyone of course... I'm suffering from a severe case of cognitive dissonance!

[Cold in Michigan]

01:27 AM on 04/30/2011

Ummm...the article said girls as young a 5...Five ...FIVE...

[Jericho the Red]

04:46 PM on 04/30/2011

between 5 and 15.. where did it szay marriage at 18 should be stopped?

before you post- please read

[hairydodger]

05:34 PM on 04/29/2011

Bring the Internet to all. It's a world changing event bigger than the age of industry.

[lhanderson86]

06:29 PM on 04/29/2011

That would be difficult since some parts of the world don't even have access to clean water, let alone electricity.

[Cold in Michigan]

01:28 AM on 04/30/2011

Yeah, then give a computer to a young girl that can't read in a country that controls what can be displayed on the internet. Good idea.

[gsc 99]

05:31 PM on 04/29/2011

The most "holier than thou," article award must be reserved for this misinformed article. The sheer hypocrisy and ignorance of ground realities. American teens need to stop having babies and american marriage institution needs to be reformed, charity begins at home, as someone said, before worrying about rest of the world.

[Jericho the Red]

04:49 PM on 04/30/2011

hmmm, I would say Nigel Barker wouold be somewhat informed-
and there is nothing wrong for girls from this Country wanting to end atrocites in others...

jsut because our country has problems does not mean we should not try to help girls in others...

Women have to stick together, for the most part we are the only ones who will

[Justice76]

01:44 AM on 05/01/2011

The point of the article was to highlight the practice of forcing young girls into marriage. He did not compare them to America; He didn't insult the people of those countries. He simply tried to shed light on an issue that has gone unnoticed by many people throughout the world. That is not the definition of hypocrisy.

[darquelourd]

05:00 PM on 04/29/2011

hopefully one day they will return the favor by campaigning to make sure women in this "advanced" country have access to birth control and reproductive information

[Miss Peaches]

10:20 AM on 05/03/2011

f&f

[Richcrafter]

04:56 PM on 04/29/2011

Yuk. But western marriages fail ad infinitum!

[darquelourd]

05:02 PM on 04/29/2011

yes, I believe the stats for arranged marriage are much better than for the way we do it but that would dampen the Western/Christian superiority aspect to this campaign.

I guess the way we treat women in the US is a model of envy?

[Jericho the Red]

04:51 PM on 04/30/2011

must be a guy, you wouldn't be the one treated as property..

girls as young as 5, normally around 15....
has nothing to do with religion

[StopMakingSense2]

05:24 PM on 04/29/2011

Freedom does that sort of thing.. Which is better?

[amaboss52]

04:24 PM on 04/29/2011

It's becoming harder and harder to defend being human.

[darquelourd]

05:04 PM on 04/29/2011

I support you completely. It's time we all conformed to the behaviors that are most profitable for large corporations and which please the nanny state defenders.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

03:16 PM on 04/29/2011

I smell an Mtv reality show!!

[capt ayhab]

03:08 PM on 04/29/2011

I am totally against forced marriage no matter the age. And I deplore marriage at early age. But as to arranged marriages, consider sites like eHARMONY.

eharmony and similar site are nothing but high tech version of arranged marriage where a so called [Go Between] which in this case is computer software matches and arranges the meeting of prospectus couples.

[Alaskan99577]

05:34 PM on 04/29/2011

Arranging a meeting and forcing a marriage are kind of different things.

[capt ayhab]

06:45 PM on 04/29/2011

That is exactly what I posted.

Besides have you had the chance to see eharmony's  advert?

To quote just a few:

http://eharmony-blog.com/328

[lhanderson86]

06:24 PM on 04/29/2011

Your comments about eharmony are misguided and false. You don't have to marry the person suggested for you. You don't even have to meet them. In some countries, you are killed if you don't marry your arranged spouse.

[capt ayhab]

06:46 PM on 04/29/2011

Misguided?

So what is that they are trying to do? Enlighten me please.

[Nelle]

02:39 PM on 04/29/2011

As horrible as this is, culturally ingrained practices are some of the hardest to break...and I'm not sure what President Obama can do to stop this from happening.

[Jaxy]

05:48 PM on 04/29/2011

Helping raise widespread awareness of this scourge is an important first step. As well as encouraging large numbers of people to play a small role in helping combat it.

[Blissful]

02:27 PM on 04/29/2011

I have read several first hand accounts of this practice, the girl is not happy, she is only a girl sold by her parents for the best price. Shameless. I don't care how long they have been doing it, a child is not ready for sex.

[Sister777]

02:40 PM on 04/29/2011

The bible says its Ok. In Leviticus.

[mombabytiger]

03:02 PM on 04/29/2011

Old Testament law was replaced by the New Testament.

[sonofsun]

04:03 PM on 04/29/2011

Bible says many nice things, do you follow all of them.

[Dr Korey]

02:52 PM on 04/29/2011

Unless you bust out whatever holy book that is currently in trend.

[LI2USsomemore]

02:27 PM on 04/29/2011

It's unfortunate that when humans were evolving, the natural inclination of the female mammal to prohibit intercourse until timely didn't become a part of the genetics.

[Sister777]

02:41 PM on 04/29/2011

It is there. It just requires men to respect women.

[Momklok]

03:30 PM on 04/29/2011

Yep, blame it on the female. How about the male evolving to respect and treat females with dignity and honor.

[LI2USsomemore]

04:10 PM on 04/29/2011

Now that wasn't very nice! Blame? Who said anything about blame?

We're not talking about males who respect women; we're talking about those who don't or those caught up in cultural practices.

Actually, I was thinking it would be great if women exhibited feline characteristics when it comes to mating.

So you be nice. I'm on your team! :-)

[Sydney Light]

02:21 PM on 04/29/2011

The mistreatment of women and girls worldwide is the scourge of humanity. Whether it be forced marriage, rape, circumcision, burkas, stoning, etc., are part of the greatest human rights violations of all time. If anything brings humanity down for good, it is the way women are treated, and this includes the treatment of the Great Mother, our Earth.