Micro-Activity 13

Sylvana Rincon

ENG 1121

Word Count: 433

Parsons, Jennifer, et al. “ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.” Taylor & Francis Online, 23 Oct. 2015, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757.

Child marriage is a social, cultural, ideological, socio-economical and educational problematic. The poorest countries have the highest child marriage rates. In many situation parents use marriages of girls to get ecomic benefits from the husband. In cases where the bride’s family obtains a financial benefit, the younger the bride is the greater the benefit. Governments should provide education and financial support to girls and parents so that they can make better decisions to keep the girls in school instead of arraging their child’s marriage. Girls in arranged marriages often don’t have the opportunity to decide about their life. Usually, when a girl is married at an early age, they end up being under the husband’s control and many times taking away their ability of voicing their opinion and making their own plans. Many of the girls that marry at an early age do not finish school, and limit themselves from being educated and skilled. Because of the lack of education, it limits a girl of obtaining a formal paid employment. Additionally, in many cases girls experience sexual violence by their husband. They can also suffer from depression and emotional violence. Moreover, early marriages affects girls health, as in many cases, they experience malnutrition, isolation and depression. Girls also have a higher mortality risk when giving birth. Not only the girls life is risk but also, the babies life could be endangered. A 60 percent of the babies born from a mother younger than 18 years old have a higher mortality rate than a baby born from a mother older than 18. To end child marriage not only there has to be law and policies reformation, but there has to be formation of girls, by providing education , skills and support networks. There has to be an approach from the religion leaders as the relationship between child marriages and faith is very strong.

I completely agree with this article, child marriages affects the girls or boys live in every single way. Girls who are the most affected, live an oppressed and miserable lifes. Girls are limited because the mayority of the times they do not finish school and they dedicate themselves to be a housewife. Girls are in many situations sexually assaulted by their husband. Moreover, yough mothers under 18 years old and their babies’s life are in a higer mortality risk. I have found possible solutions for this problematic within the aricle but the article does not explain why there has not been a complete stop of this practice. I would like to find more specific and expanded solutions for this problem.   

“The low value placed on girls and women perpetuates the act and acceptability of child marriage in societies where the practice is common”(1).