Editor: The editorial of The Guardian, Tuesday, October 30, 2012, entitled: “Menace of underage marriage,” commented on the forceful betrothal of a 12-year-old girl named Aminat Hamisu to a 70-year-old, Malam Ibrahim Mairago. The editorial stated: “That Aminat detests the relationship and would have none of it is clearly cognizable from her alleged vehement remonstrance and her appeal to well-meaning Nigerians and human rights organisation to save her from the ordeal.” Aminat’s appeal should not be ignored.
Roza Olyai, an Indian gynecologist and the National Chairperson for the Adolescent Health Committee of the Federation of the Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India, said: “Early marriage has many medical risks. The reproductive organs are not fully developed. The body is not ready. Teenage mothers, especially those below 18 years, risk hypertensive disorder, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia and post-partum hemorrhage.”
Girls who marry earlier in life are less likely to be informed about reproductive issues, and because of this, pregnancy-related deaths are known to be the leading cause of mortality among married girls between 15 and 19 years of age. These girls are twice more likely to die in childbirth than girls between 20 and 24 years of age. Girls younger than 15 years of age are five times more likely to die in childbirth.
Infants born to mothers under the age of 18 are 60 per cent more likely to die in their first year than to mothers over the age of 19. If the children survive, they are more likely to suffer from low birth weight, malnutrition, and late physical and cognitive development.
Marrying young is often associated with a lack of education and higher rates of poverty. Because of household responsibilities, pregnancy, and child-rearing, young girls do not have access to schooling and income opportunities. Young girls in a child marriage are more likely to experience domestic violence in their marriages as opposed to older women. A study conducted in India by the International Centre for Research on Women showed that girls married before 18 years of age are twice as likely to be beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands and three times more likely to experience sexual violence. Young brides often show symptoms of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress.
Aminat should be saved from undergoing these consequences of underage marriage. It is unimaginable that a man who has spent his lifetime would attempt to marry a girl who is just starting hers. Such a marriage is unloving, selfish and animalistic. Parents who ignore the consequences of underage marriage and push their daughters or sons into it should better go for a psychiatric test. Such parents should realise that their children’s future is much more than the present “goodies” and that it is better to remain single than to enter into a bad marriage.
Leo Smart.
