It’s almost impossible to see what lies behind the eyes of a child that has made an overnight crossing from the fun and joy of childhood to the ordeals of adulthood.
Children who ought to be feeling the warm embrace of their parents are instead having to deal with the laughter and cries of another child who has ended up in their embrace.
We are occasionally informed by friends and relatives about a marriage between under-age boys and girls. We find this peculiar and we condemn it.
In the past such marriages were considered more or less the norm, but in today’s world, thanks to cultural and educational progress, such marriages have become much rarer. Yet for various reasons, such under-age marriages continue to be arranged in some areas and in certain societies.
Marriages of children under the age of 18 involve both boys and girls, but girls tend to be the majority of sufferers of this unreasonable practice.
Firstly, such marriages destroy a child’s innocence and happiness and secondly, they obstruct the child’s development, denying him or her education and schooling.
Girls that are obliged to marry young bear the physical and psychological consequences for life, mainly due to premature pregnancy.
Underage marriages do not only take place in poor countries, but also in wealthy ones, even though they are clearly banned and declared illegal.
One of the most important negative consequences of early marriage is that the child is separated from its parents, something that Article 9 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child expressly forbids, unless that separation is in the best interests of the child. Clearly, this is not the case in child marriages.
Further adverse effects include the removal of the child from familiar surroundings and the denial to the child of specific rights.
The fact is that the majority of these marriages are arranged with the agreement of both the parents and the minors. Article 13 gives the child the right to decide but what happens in practice is that most children give in to parental pressure.
Early marriage is a peculiar tradition.
How can one put an end to this unacceptable custom?
Through formal, moral and social education, together with the provision of essential information about any unpredictable and harmful effects and consequences.
Until we can find a way of changing people’s attitude on this matter and until we can formulate a correct strategy to deal with this irrational custom, we cannot rest easily with our consciences nor consider the matter closed.
*This article has been published in issue #5 of “Migratory Birds” newspaper, which was released as an annex with “Efimerida ton Syntakton” newspaper (Newspaper of the Editors) on November 11th 2017.
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