Argumentative Essay On Child Marriage

902 Words2 Pages

they are just jealous and depressed that no one wants to marry them. He also states that women's and children's rights activist groups are just putting a few isolated examples of when child marriage went wrong to the spotlight. But in reality there are more than just a few cases that go wrong, most do not even get reported.1 There are many other Islamic conservatives that have the same mindset as Hazmi, which is why the battle to end child marriage in such countries like Yemen is not easy.
Currently, Yemen is one of the poorest nations with one of the highest fertility rates and illiteracy rates.2 Child marriage plays a role in all of those problems for Yemen. About 80 percent of Yemen's population live in rural areas.3 Most child marriages occur in the rural areas compared to the urban areas. Girls in urban areas tend to get married at age 12 or 13, while girls in the rural areas may be married by the age of eight. 32 percent of girls in Yemen are married before the age of 18 and 11 percent are married before 15.4 Sometimes these child marriages in Yemen can also be consanguineous, which may be safer than marrying a stranger, but it still leads to other problems, such as biological diseases for their children.5 It is more common for younger girls(14 or less) to be in a consanguineous marriage than girls who are older.6 Although, once again, it may be more safe than marrying a complete stranger, it still has the severe consequences of having biological diseases for the couples' children, higher fertility rate, and higher child mortality rate.7 However, most cases of child marriage in Yemen usually involve a complete stranger who is much older than the girls and the girls usually do not even get consent in marrying the strange ma...

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...tions it causes. Many girls can get AIDS or STDs because of the sexual abuse they face. They also have to face premature pregnancy even though their bodies are not physically ready to bear children. Premature pregnancy cause problems for both the mother and the incoming baby. Most of the time the babies or the mothers may not survive, causing the high maternal and infant mortality rate in Yemen.26. Even if the girls survive through the pregnancy, with all the abuse they suffer, most girls will still have psychological problems.27 Child marriage causes the death of the girls in other forms too, such as bleeding to death during sexual intercourse.28 Child marriage also plays a huge role in Yemen's high fertility rate. This is because girls have lack of knowledge on sex and contraception.29 Also, having an abortion is considered a crime in Yemen.30 Not only does child

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