Child bride tragedy holding back girls’ true potential
The harmful practice of child marriage is being examined ahead of International Day of the Girl.
Australians are encouraged to use 11 October to reflect on outdated cultural norms, values and gender stereotypes that contribute to inequality.
Worldwide, 12 million girls under the age of 18 are married every year; This equates to a girl child almost every three seconds.
Although early marriage and child marriage affect both girls and boys, the impact on girls is much greater, and those growing up in poverty or living through crisis, conflict or disaster are particularly at risk.
For Akec Makur Chuot, the issue is deeply personal.
The former AFLW player grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya for 12 years before settling in Perth.
Her sister, who remained in Kenya, was forced to marry a much older man at the age of 15.
“People think this is a foreign event happening abroad, but it’s happening in our society,” Makur Chuot said.
“It happened in South Sudan, but obviously I was in Australia and it affected me because I knew she (my sister) was a young girl with a lot of dreams, just like the millions of girls who are forced into marriage at a young age.”
International Day of the Girl Child, celebrated on October 11, aims to highlight the potential of girls around the world and the obstacles they may face in freedom, security, justice, health and education.
This year’s theme highlights child marriage, which remains prevalent despite broad policy actions and legal reforms.
A report by Plan International Australia surveyed more than 250 girls aged 15 to 24 who were married as children, as well as activists working to eliminate child marriage.
The research, conducted in 15 countries, revealed that 66 percent of child brides dropped out of school and 75 percent were unemployed.
“What really struck me was that the girls we spoke to talked about being very isolated,” Plan International Australia CEO Susanne Legena told AAP.
“They miss their friends. They’re young girls (and) they live in societies and cultures where the only status you have as a woman is to be married or have children.”
Although child marriage is illegal in Australia, Ms Legena said girls in the country still face other forms of gender inequality.
“Norms, values, gender stereotypes, condescending views of girls and what those things can be are present in Australia,” she said.
“We must address this attitude here as well. It does not manifest itself in child marriages, but it manifests itself in sexual harassment, gender inequality and gender-based violence.”
Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who was recently announced as the new boss of Plan International Australia, said International Day of the Girl is a time to celebrate and highlight the changes girls are making unhindered around the world.
“If girls can be educated, empowered and included in society, it will mean a better world, not just for girls, but for everyone,” she said.
“Here in Australia this is a moment of reckoning… we cannot stop until we are all equal.”
