Speaking out against child marriage
In conversation with Sonita Alizadeh, activist against child marriage
Eliminating child, early and forced marriage is one of the Sustainable Developmental Goals. In developing countries, one in every four girls is married before reaching the age of 18 years. Child marriage threatens the lives and health of girls and limits their prospects. Girls pressed into child marriage often become pregnant while still adolescents, increasing the risk of complications related to pregnancy, unsafe abortion and childbirth. These complications are a leading cause of death among older adolescents (15–19 years old) in developing countries.Although countries around the world have decided that child marriage is a grave violation of human rights, the problem persists.
Growing up in Afghanistan, Sonita Alizadeh was to be a bride at the age of 10. That plan fell through as her family fled to the Islamic Republic of Iran to escape the Taliban, but when she turned 16 her mother told her that a man had offered US$ 9000 to marry her.
Armed with nothing but passion and perseverance, she found a way out of her situation. She turned her love of music into an opportunity. She has used her rap lyrics and powerful voice to advocate against child marriage and inspire young people.
In 2015, she went to the United States of America, where she is a student and spokesperson for the rights of girls to choose their own destiny.
Why is ending child marriage so important to you?
I personally understand what child marriage really means for children. It is the death of their dreams, the death of their childhood. It is fear and depression, leaving their home and families. It is often abuse. It is having
and raising babies while you should still be playing with dolls. It can mean
health problems. It is almost always the end of education and the end of hope.
I escaped that fate, but every day I think about all the girls — one every two seconds, 15 million a year — who must face this fate. They are children. It is absolutely devastating. These things, knowing the personal pain and the greater consequences of child marriage, keep me going.
What is the connection between ending child marriage and the Sustainable Development Goals?
Without ending child marriage, we will not achieve at least eight of the
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, we can’t have all
boys and girls finish secondary school if girls are dropping out to get married. To end extreme poverty, girls need to finish school and reach their full potential and work together with men for the economic stability of the world.
These are examples of just a few of the SDGs. To achieve these goals, we need to work for achieving gender equality worldwide and specifically aim at eliminating harmful practices, such as child marriage.
How did you get out of marrying at 16?
In response to my impending marriage and the feelings of so many of my friends, I wrote the song “Daughters for sale” and, with the help of a filmmaker who was recording my story, made a music video. We posted it on YouTube and it quickly went viral. The video was seen by the nonprofit organization Strongheart Group, which reached out to me and facilitated my move to the United States for school.
I moved to the United States and eventually my family began to understand my perspective and decided that I didn’t need to get married. My music changed my family’s mind about my future. It helped them understand something they didn’t understand before.
How are you advocating to end child marriage?
I consider myself an advocate and an activist even before a musician and rapper. I want to create change, and I use music to speak out about the injustices I see around me. Music can reach people in a special way.
Now, I also speak with leaders from all over the world about child marriage. By sharing my personal story and giving them a deeper understanding of the issue I hope to impact thought and policy. I work with the Strongheart Group on all my advocacy and I am a Girls Not Brides Champion.
I speak to students, too! Education and understanding is the first step to change. Together with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Strongheart, I created a curriculum on child’s marriage for high school students. I think that working with young people is the key to solving many of the worlds biggest problems. I have big plans for this next year!
What are the health effects of child marriage?
Child brides become child mothers. Many girls die in labour, because their bodies aren’t ready for childbirth. In fact, in many countries complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19 years.
When girls are too young to be mothers, babies also die. We can prevent millions of babies from dying and from becoming stunted just by ending child marriage. We can also help the health of the girls themselves.
As a result of sexual violence and poor access to health care, girls who are victims of child marriage are also more likely to contract HIV.
What can be done to stop child marriage?
We first need everyone to recognize that child marriage is a problem. That involves education. We need to make sure that countries have laws and policies to forbid child marriage and existing policies can be implemented. Child marriage is a very old tradition. There need to be programmes that support families so that they can make better decisions for their daughters and do something new. Child marriage impacts almost every part of life and many other issues. So, we need everyone to work together: people in education, people in humanitarian response and, of course, people in health. In this way, I am hopeful that we can end child marriage.
Read more in UNAIDS’ new report Right to Health.
