The state of gender inequality in the United States is a hot-button issue that has affected nearly everyone in some way or another. During the current campaign cycle, the idea that our country’s culture and institutions have given many women unfairly inequitable treatment has been oft-discussed, with tempers flaring on both sides of the issue.
There’s no question that, here in the U.S., employers and members of other public institutions fail to give women the respect and opportunities they are due. This problem has roots that are deeply ingrained in the fabric of our culture, and there won’t be a quick or easy solution.
While we work toward progress, it’s equally crucial to view the fight for equality as citizens of the world. As we’ve acknowledged, the U.S. is not a beacon of perfection. However, in developing countries, women and girls are systematically denied basic human rights. Child marriage, once accepted as the norm, continues to oppress girls throughout Africa and the Middle East and condemn them to a life of physical, social and emotional hardship.
According to the international children’s rights organization, Save the Children, one in nine girls in developing countries is married before age 15. By 18, nearly one in three girls is married. These marriages are, by and large, arranged and conducted without the consent of the underage girls.
It’s also disconcerting to learn United Nations Children’s Fund estimates the number of married girls will grow from 700 million to 950 million by 2030.
When presented with these distressing figures, I first consider the fact that the vast majority of 18-year-olds have barely emerged from adolescence and are nowhere near ready to commit to marriage. It takes further consideration, though, to fully understand the severity of the global child marriage epidemic.
The epidemic is particularly bad in countries where public education is weak and there are few measures in place to encourage girls to stay in school. When finances are tight and there’s little legal framework to ensure that girls receive an education, girls are more apt to marry and discontinue their schooling.
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle that is very difficult to break. In sub-Saharan Africa, just four percent of literate girls are married as opposed to 20 percent of illiterate girls. Receiving an education could be the single most effective prevention to resorting to or being coerced into a child marriage.
In addition to its terrible effects on a girl’s opportunity to receive an education, the harmfulness of child marriage is perpetuated by many of these countries’ lack of proper health services. For girls between the ages of 15 and 19, maternal mortality, second only to suicide, is one of the leading causes of death.
In July, Gambia, where three in ten girls are married, outlawed child marriage and instituted a maximum of 20 years in prison for those who violated the new law.
Creating legal deterrents and making sure they are adequately enforced is the first step that must be taken toward eliminating the problem of child marriage, especially in countries where laws are seldom enforced.
It’s clear that, in 2016, we still have a lot of work to do before we achieve equality. We’ve taken steps in the right direction, but measurable progress starts with changing the way we think.
dkilcull@indiana.edu
