Lto practice of early and forced marriages it is still very widespread in the world. Consequence of inequalities and gender discrimination, the phenomenon of child brides it is also often combined with extreme poverty. In total they are 650 million women worldwide who had to marry before the age of 18. Every year, 12 million girls and adolescents are at risk of undergoing a forced and early marriage.
The most critical areas of the planet are in Sub-Saharan Africa where even today 35% of women get married as a child: and not much has changed in recent years. Ten years ago they were 38%.
but it is theIndia to hold the gruesome distinction of country with the most child brides in the world: more than 200 million, a third of the global total. A country where about 16% of adolescent girls are currently married and where at least 1.5 million girls every year under 18 are forced to marry without their consent.
Child brides, in the world and in Italy
Unfortunately, then, the global problem also closely affects very young girls in Italy. The stories of Saman Abbas, Sana Cheema and Hina Saleem. “Here the problem is really underestimated,” explains Tahany. Egyptian, in Italy for over 25 years, she is one of the Community Trainers of ActionAid in the Join our CHAIN project in Milan, which contrasts and raises awareness of forced marriages and female genital mutilation.
It is she who warns: «We realize the existence of forced marriages only when we get to the tragic news case. But it is something that we must always pay attention to because marriage is a very heartfelt and always present theme, it is talked about a lot at home and the girls often fear it ».
Families repentant for arranged marriages
In some cases, he says, families who arrived in Italy many years ago made a painful choice, they have “sacrificed” the first daughter, the largest. “It means that they fixed the marriage in the country of origin and the girl went back, to live far and detached from her birth family, without support at the time of delivery and in the life of her grandchildren,” explains Tahany. Many parents have regretted forcing their daughters in these combined unions, they realized how much pain they inflicted on their daughters and on themselves to respect past traditions.
To address these issues with families you need a lot of trust. AND often the mothers are the most important to convincethey are the ones who decide. «Often in Italy it is thought that the father is the parent who decrees the future of the girls; on the other hand, it is with mothers that we seek the most important alliance, those with whom we can dialogue and make society’s changes accepted».
The summer in the country of origin to become child brides
They are estimated approx 2,000 girls and girls at risk per year in Italy. They are often sent to do the summer holidays in the countries of origin parents and there they meet the boy that the family has chosen for them. The foreign communities most affected by this practice are those of Bangladesh, Mali, Somalia, Nigeria, India, Egypt, Pakistan. Since forced marriage was included as a crime in the Red Code (i.e. the law 69 of 2019 on domestic and gender-based violence) there were 35 crimes of coercion or inducement to marry. Although also mentioned in the anti-violence plan 2021-2023however, does not seem to be a priority given that there is no real operational plan.
ActionAid’s commitment, from India to Milan
The ActionAid organization is engaged on this front with the Join our CHAIN project in Milan and in over 29 countries around the world, from India to Somaliland.
And once again this year, on the occasion of 8 March, it will turn the spotlight on this issue thanks also to the support of Claudia Gerini who lent her image for the campaign “They are not brides, they are children”. For the occasion, you have collected a series of testimonies from girls who have had to face the nightmare of forced marriages.
Priya, between the law of the gauna and a family that understood
Priya, 18, belongs to a nomadic tribal community in Rajasthan. She was married off when she was only 10 but at the time she could not understand what was happening to her. Recently, however, she has realized that she wants to continue studying and end the marriage. But in her community there is a gauna: after puberty, the bride must go and live permanently in the groom’s house. And as soon as Priya turns 16, her in-laws claim her. The family realizes the girl’s wishes and decides to cancel the wedding but the boy’s family, influential and with the support of the community and the caste leaders of 12 nearby villages, rejects Priya’s requests. Thanks to the intervention of ActionAid, the police intervene preventing the wedding and forcing the boy’s family to take a step back. Today Priya went back to school.
India, the history of Suprabha who wanted to study
Suprabha, also 16, lives in the state of Odisha. Last July her father arranged her wedding. In her district it is common for girls to get married at a young age but Suprabha’s story is different and she set an example for the whole community and village. At the time a student, when the operators learned of her case, the support network was immediately activated and the marriage was interrupted. Suprabha was able to continue his studies as he wished, brilliantly passing his end-of-year exams. Today she has enrolled in a course to become an electrician, breaking cultural barriers and undertaking a profession that is conventionally considered masculine. In honor of her courage she was invited to New Delhi on the occasion of the institutional celebrations for the International Day of the Girl Child.
Senoara, who figured out why her son died
Senoara, 18, fled the violence in Myanmar in late 2017. She was a child bride and is eager to share her experiences to change attitudes in the community. “I got married when I was 16. I had a son, but he died. That’s why information about the negative effects of early marriage is so important to me. I myself am an example of what is wrong with early marriage. During the training session we also learn that boys receive more food and girls less, we learn what happens if we give less food to a girl, what kind of effect it has.
It saddens me to realize that we have made girls less important. Also, basic education, which was going to be for boys only, but we understood from the training that girls should also have the opportunity to get an education. I am a child bride so I make sure to always share my experience with other girls which is that my son died because I was too youngas an example for them”.
Bangladesh, the story of Samiun and the value of freedom
Samiun, now 20, got married when she was just 12. She now has two children, one of whom is still a baby. She frequents women’s spaces in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh, and is a leading storyteller in interactive theatre, warning other girls of the dangers of early marriage.
“I got married when I was 12. I worked as a maid. When I moved into my in-laws’ house after the wedding, I didn’t like the atmosphere and the people at all, and I didn’t like my husband. I ran away, returning to my parents. But my father and mother beat me and told me that I have to come back, that’s the rule.
They took me back to my husband, but I was so unhappy that I ran away again. They forced me to go back again.
Becoming a mother early, so as not to think about it
While all this was happening, the whole family – my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law – told me that I would feel better if I had a baby. When you have a baby you can focus more on your family and it doesn’t feel so bad. So I got pregnant.
When I got pregnant my husband only wanted a son, so everyone consoled me when I had a daughter. I had a second child five years later. In both cases it was a joint decision of the family and I agreed. Today I help the other girls to maintain this freedom, because it is very important”.
Kenya, Pauline, mutilated and mistaken for some cow
Forced to leave school because her parents could no longer pay for her studies Pauline, a 15-year-old who lives in Kenya, suffered female genital mutilation at about 10 and was forced to marry shortly after. «My parents wanted me to get married to have cows. I couldn’t have avoided it. I did not know the cut [la mutilazione – ndr] it meant that I would be forced to marry. I knew nothing about marriage or pregnancy».
Pauline has a daughter, Faith, with her husband, and is pregnant with their second child. She is now part of an ActionAid-supported women’s group that works to defend girls from genital mutilation and child marriage.
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