The huge publicity that this year’s International Women’s Day received in Nigeria, against the backdrop of the Ese Oruru case, is a manifestation of the increasing awareness of the burden that women and more especially, young girls carry in our environment. International Women’s Day 2016 should go beyond the acknowledgment of the plight of Nigerian women which is well known; rather it should nudge our collective acquiescence to the embarrassing issue of Nigeria’s child brides and sex slaves, which has become the source of a lot of controversy and anger. Even as we lament the shame of a nation from Chibok to Kano, to Kaduna, to Sokoto, we condemn the sexual predators, and proclaim the right of women and the girl child to dignity.
Last Tuesday, President Buhari, the civil society and first ladies of the respective state governments competed for space to highlight the plight of Nigerian women. Buhari in a statement re-affirmed his administration’s commitment towards promoting the rights and privileges of women. It is obvious that Nigerian women face difficulties, many of which need no retelling. These range from rape, domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual harassment, negative cultural practices relating to widowhood, circumcision, denial of access to land and inheritance rights. These combine with other discrimination, gauged in the low-level of literacy, absence of prenatal care, high mortality rate resulting from child-bearing, and absence of opportunities for self-actualization.
Despite these tales of misery, the hard reality that women face today is aggravated by the phenomenon of child marriage. Defined as a marital union with a person under age 18, it affects more girls in Nigeria than in all West African countries combined, according to a recent Ford Foundation study that assesses child marriage in the region’s sixteen countries. With over 1,193,000 child marriages and counting, Nigeria ranks first in Africa and third amongst the world’s 10 countries with the highest absolute number of child brides, behind Bangladesh (2,359,000) and India (10,063,000). The Child Rights Act, which raised the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18, was signed in 2003 but child marriage persist and varies from region to region, with figures as high as 76% in the Northwest and as low as 10% in the Southeast.
The numbers tell the story: 43% of Nigerian girls are married off before their 18th birthday; 48% are married before they turn 15. Though it is technically unlawful to marry a girl below 18 years of age, girls in some Northern states are sometimes married by age nine. In Kebbi, the average age of marriage for girls is just 11. At this rate, the total number of child brides is expected to double by 2050, according to campaigners from Girls Not Brides; a global coalition of over 300 NGOs in over 50 countries working to end child marriage.
Within Nigerian politics the issue has proven controversial, not least because northern politicians have a habit of marrying teenagers. Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, (Zamfara West), made headlines back in 2010 when he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl as his 4th wife, arguing that Islam places no restriction on the age of marriage for a girl. The Senate ordered a probe after rights watchdog groups accused Yerima of shaming the country. Media reports alleged Yerima paid a $100,000 dowry and married the girl at the National Mosque in the capital Abuja.
Child, early, and forced marriage chokes off girls’ fundamental right to make free decisions and drive their own lives. Rooted in gender inequality, discriminatory and patriarchal norms, stereotypes, and socio-cultural control of women’s and girls’ bodies, the practice of child marriage acts to limit the realm of possibility for millions of girls each year. Crucially, girls who are forced to marry at a young age are exposed to early and forced sexual relations and dangerous health consequences from repeated pregnancies and childbirth before they are either physically or psychologically mature. Globally, at least 25,000 children are married every day. One in nine marries before the age of 15.
Research shows that once married, a child bride will likely remain financially dependent on her husband and her risk of pregnancy-related complications increases, just as her chances of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, and being subjected to sexual violence. Unfortunately, most sexually assaulted women do not report to formal authorities for fear of stigmatization. It may well turn out, therefore, that the incidence of sexual assault is far beyond imagination. Beside outright sexual assaults, there are cases of beating and acid-bathing.
It is important to interrogate the causes of violence, particularly sexual violence against women; especially as such an act advertises a sickness of the mind, needing urgent counselling and treatment. One cause is the breakdown of family values. The battle for survival has put a huge strain on many families leaving children to fend for themselves without protection and moral guidance. In urban areas, children are coerced into hawking to augment family income. In the streets, the girls are exposed to all forms of danger, including sexual assault and abduction. This breakdown of values also finds expression in a patriarchy system that perpetuates male dominance, especially in the north, where illiteracy and poverty along with the incidence of child marriage is the highest in the nation.
Nigeria has made significant improvements to address child brides and early marriages by implementing programs to increase girls’ school enrollment, treating fistulas caused by young mothers experiencing complications during pregnancy and awarding scholarships for girls. Education is a human right in itself and also a pathway to other inalienable rights and every child deserves the opportunity to receive one. This is especially true for girl children. Educating girls has dramatic effects not only on the girl herself, but also on her broader society. It reduces maternal mortality, reduces adolescent pregnancy, delays and prevents early marriage, and improves economic stability.
Beyond the rhetoric and catalogue of the problems confronting women, especially girls, the challenge is to act to stop discrimination against women who constitute more than half of the global population. The government must do a better job creating awareness about the importance of education for girls. And the issue of child brides should not be about religion but about structural policy change. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly is the international bill of rights for women and it provides a global framework to fight discrimination against women. Nigeria ratified this instrument in 1985 without conditions. The question is to what extent has the country lived up to its expectations? As we reflect on the plight of women, Nigeria must move beyond this year’s International Women’s day theme of “Pledge for Parity” and take concrete measures to change the country’s image as a haven for child brides and sexual predators.
