Causes and consequences of early and forced marriage

Early and forced marriage is a human rights violation and a type of gender-based violence. These practices have enormous consequences on a girl’s life. They affect her health, the development of her body, and her education. In early and forced marriage, the girl’s consent is not taken into account. And she is usually not old enough to get married.

Good morning, dear listeners. Our program today is about the causes and consequences of early and forced marriage. To talk about this subject, we have with us today Ms. Coulibaly Mariam Kouyaté, an expert on gender issues and President of the Djiguiya Association of Sébougou in Ségou. We will also talk with Mr. Yacouba Konaté, Coordinator of the NGO Walé in Segou, Ms. Fatoumata Diarra, a survivor of early and forced marriage, and Mr. Souleymane Traoré, Technical Director of the Community Health Centre of Sebougou.

Ms. Kouyate, hello!

Thank you for having me on your program.

Welcome! Please explain for our listeners: what are early and forced marriages?

An early marriage is the union of two people under the age of 18. This is often called child marriage. Forced marriage is a union between two people in which the woman does not consent. It is typical that the man agrees and the woman refuses.

What is the age requirement for marriage in Mali?

It is 16 for a girl and 18 for a boy. In Africa and more specifically in Mali, it is recommended that the woman be younger than her husband. This is a longstanding cultural practice. Nowadays, however, this is not always the case.

What are the possible causes of early or forced marriage in Mali and in the Segou region?

There are many causes. It could be poverty and early pregnancy. In rural areas, most young girls do not know about family planning methods. This is a sensitive topic to discuss with your daughter. Many parents feel that if they do not give their daughters in marriage at a young age, they may become pregnant. The family will then be singled out and the girl will be the laughingstock of the village.

The other reason is customary beliefs. The beliefs of some communities in Mali are very conservative. In some places, it is considered customary for a girl to be under her husband’s roof when she has her third menstrual cycle.

In addition, there is gender inequality. In African families, girls generally have a lower status than boys. They are considered a liability and leave the house when they marry. In the village, many parents do not care for the girl in the same way as the boy, especially after she marries. Many families marry off their daughters to avoid having to spend money on them. For these families, a girl’s role is to get married, have children, and do housework.

How prevalent is forced and early marriage in Mali?

In Mali, 15% of girls marry before the age of 15 and 55% of girls are married before the age of 18.

What do you think about this? What negative impacts does this low status have on the lives of women?

I think we need to treat girls and boys equally. Nowadays, with a lot of sensitization around gender issues, some men are beginning to understand that it is time to put an end to these inequalities. So the situation is changing positively, albeit not 100%. While some people encourage women in their struggle for equality, others continue to stereotype women as inferior. For that reason, I ask all men to stop portraying women in a negative light and instead to portray them in a positive light.

You advocate against early and forced marriage. How are your actions in the field going, including raising awareness?

In the field, we encounter many difficulties. Because of customs and religions in Mali, it is often difficult to achieve our objectives of reducing forced and early marriage. Also, children are educating themselves through the internet and social networks.

As an advocacy association for girls, we face all these difficulties on the ground. So we try to approach traditionalists and community leaders in a diplomatic way. We talk to them about the risks and consequences of early and forced marriage. We also suggest solutions to end it.

For survivors, we suggest income-generating activities. We encourage them to participate in our meetings, trainings, and workshops on gender-based violence in order to prevent their children from suffering the same fate. We support them so that they do not feel alone and abandoned, or consider themselves to be the laughingstock of the community. The key method for fighting against this scourge is raising awareness, and sharing information to help change behaviour and attitudes.

Do men participate in your activities?

Yes, they are involved. We currently have men committed to working with us on advocacy. They help us organize spaces for dialogue and communication.

What are your strategies to prevent or end girls’ early and forced marriages?

Our strategies are about keeping girls in school. And for that, we support them from the first to the ninth grade with regular follow-ups. We put a special emphasis on sensitization. We invite parents and survivors to talk about their experiences, and religious leaders and traditional chiefs to offer advice.

What roles should family heads and customary and religious authorities play in eradicating early and forced marriage in Mali, and specifically in the Segou region?

First, they must ensure that the laws which Mali has signed and ratified are respected. Secondly, they must work to ensure that girls are enrolled in school and that they stay there. It is also their responsibility to establish good parent-child communication, and to cooperate with various stakeholders in advocacy and raising awareness. For example, the village chief can prohibit the marriage of a young child. He can also set up an after-school committee to give girls the opportunity to express themselves and support each other.

As an advocate for girls and women, what messages do you have for parents and girls about early and forced marriage?

To parents, I ask that they be role models who support their children’s education, and learn to communicate freely with them.

I ask girls to be aware that education is an excellent means to fight against early marriage, and that school will enable them to obtain economic opportunities that will promote their independence.

As for boys, they should also be committed to their studies and not be in a hurry to get married, especially before finding a job. This will allow them to meet their personal needs and family needs once they are married.

Thank you very much, Mariam Kouyaté. Now, we are going to speak with Yacouba Konaté, Coordinator of the NGO Walé in Segou. Thank you for accepting our invitation.

Yacouba, in your experience, why does a family take their daughter out of school for an early and forced marriage?

There are many reasons that a family takes their daughter out of school.

Parents’ poverty increases the likelihood of their children getting married through early and forced marriage. Some parents offer their children in marriage for money. Others do it for other kinds of benefits. For example, their son-in-law may give them farmland or lend it to them free. Also, there is the misinterpretation of religion or tradition. For some preachers, a girl should not menstruate three times in her parents’ home. In other words, she should have her third period at her husband’s house. But other religious leaders do not agree with this.

Another reason is to strengthen social cohesion. Marriage is considered a way to strengthen social cohesion in our community. Some parents take advantage of this to give their child in marriage.

How do you think the girls feel about the situation?

It often causes despair and motivates her to leave her area, engage in prostitution, or drop out of school. Some prefer to abandon the family, while others accept, especially when they love the boy.

What are the possible consequences of early and forced marriage on sexual health, schooling, and the girl’s future?

The consequences are immense. First, there an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections.

Second, trauma because of sexual demands and psychological disorders. The girl is not ready to perform these sexual activities, and she will be afraid because her body and mind are not ready for it. Especially since young boys may measure their sexual strength by the damage they can do to the girl’s genitalia.

Then there is school dropout. When a girl who is in school is given away in marriage, she is very likely to drop out of school. Other consequences include unwanted pregnancies, disagreements between the two families and within the household, the death of the mother or the child during childbirth, and suicide.

As an NGO working on reproductive health issues, what are your strategies to help reduce early and forced marriage of girls?

Our strategies include establishing child protection committees at the village and local levels. These involve justices of the peace.

Secondly, establishing children’s governments at junior high schools. This helps young girls to attend senior high school without getting engaged by promoting positive behaviours such as studying well.

And finally, financial support for women’s and girls’ groups that conduct income-generating activities helps prevent school dropout and child marriage.

How do you help survivors of early and forced marriages?

First of all, we need to raise the awareness of the couple. So we meet these survivors in “Saving for Change” groups. This is an opportunity to explain the advantage of family planning to them, which promotes good health for the mother and child.

We support them through dedicated groups to borrow money, if needed, to carry out income-generating activities.

Do you have any advice on how to address the problem of early and forced marriage?

We must first raise parents’ awareness about the importance of girls’ schooling and on the consequences of early and forced marriage. Then, we must raise awareness among girls of the benefits of avoiding getting pregnant while still young. And getting boys not to impregnate girls who are not old enough to get married.

Thank you, Mr. Konaté. We now welcome Fatoumata Diarra, a survivor of early and forced marriage who was able to break free from her situation more than two years ago. How did this happen and what was your experience?

It was my father who gave me in marriage to a man older than me. At the time, I was in high school and only 14 years old. He did it without consulting me or my mother. He informed us a week before the wedding. It was also close to my Basic Education Diploma Exam. Knowing the family I come from, I knew that as long as I was alive, nothing and no one could prevent this wedding from taking place.

Three days after my marriage was announced, I tried to flee with the help of some schoolmates. I tried to go to my aunt’s home in town, but my plan failed. My father’s little brother caught us.

I didn’t even know my husband. I saw him for the first time on the day of the wedding. When I was informed about the marriage, which was later to be the cause of my dropping out of school, I was really discouraged. I had been at the top of my class since elementary school, and when I saw my dreams vanish, all I could think about was leaving this world. Don’t even imagine our wedding night. It was a terrible night, filled with despair and dark memories.

What impact did early and forced marriage have on your schooling and your plans for the future?

As a girl and a minor, I had to drop out of school against my will. My ambition to pursue advanced studies were put on hold. My parents didn’t even think about my future, nor give me the chance to be at least 18 years old before getting married. In the end, I could not fulfill my dreams of developing great projects to help women and children.

Do you feel like your dreams were shattered?

Yes, because I dreamed of being a lawyer to defend human rights, specifically women’s rights. But this is no longer possible. After my forced marriage, my husband forbade me to go to school and I became a household object.

How did you manage to rebuild your life?

It was not easy at all. After several years, thanks to the advice of my elder sister who is also in an early and forced marriage, I am trying to succeed. She advised me to go into business. She also inspired me to go to awareness sessions to listen to the experiences of other survivors. She wanted me to learn from these women and how they were able to overcome these acts of violation and walk away from forced marriage.

So I followed her advice. As a result, I was able to endure life in what I described as a toxic home. One day, during our meetings, I was able to break the silence and talk about what happened to me. That day, I really broke free of something that had been weighing on my conscience. After that, I decided to end my marriage. It was not easy. I had to face my parents—their retaliation and curses. I was expelled from school. I was kicked out of the house and went to live with my aunt who lives in the city.

In hindsight, what advice would you give to parents to preserve the future of their daughters?

I hope that what happened to me does not happen to other girls. I beg all parents not to interrupt their children’s studies in favour of marriage. They need to help their children, especially girls, to achieve their goals.

Thank you for speaking of your experience. Our last speaker today is Souleymane Traoré. He is the technical director of the community health centre in Sebougou. As a doctor, he will talk to us about the consequences of early and forced marriage on the health of the young girl. It is a pleasure to have you on this program.

The pleasure is mutual.

What are the consequences of early and forced marriage on the sexual and reproductive health of girls?

There are many. But one of them is dyspareunia. This is pain that a woman feels in the genital or pelvic area during or after sexual intercourse.

It can also cause a rupture of the perineum* or a spontaneous rupture of the uterus. There could be fetal distress, and the unborn child could die. The mother may lose her life if medical staff do not take prompt action.

If there is a complication during delivery, the girl’s vagina may be enlarged to the anus. This is called obstetric fistula. Without a good surgeon to repair this damage, the girl will suffer these consequences for the rest of her life. And sometimes, it may lead to other health problems. Beyond the medical consequences, there are also psychological consequences. The girl may now be afraid to come near people, even her child.

What kinds of complications might a girl face if she becomes pregnant early?

Many complications can occur during childbirth. These can include fetal distress, prematurity, and maternal anemia. Pregnancy in early marriage can cause the baby to mature when the pregnancy is just 37 weeks old. Generally, we find that complications affect the child when the mother is too young to bear children. It does not develop normally in the womb because of the small size of the mother’s pelvis.

During delivery, the shape and size of the girl’s body influences her belly and may cause the baby’s shoulder to drop or its arm to break. The child may also have a low birth weight, less than 2.5 kg.

The woman’s reproductive system may also be damaged during the first delivery. These complications are due to the girl’s immaturity—her body is not ready to conceive. This requires the mother and child to be taken care of, either at the community health centre, the hospital, or the health and reference hospital.

It should also be noted that complications during pregnancy and childbirth are one of the factors that cause the death of girls aged 15 to 19.

What can be done for girls who experience complications in childbirth like these?

First, psychologists and psychiatrists take care of the survivor, who has often experienced some psychological distress or trauma. If she is depressed, the health worker reassures and comforts her. And finally, surgeons intervene when there is physical damage to a girl’s body following childbirth.

What is the possible post-delivery damage to the mother and the health of the newborn for girls whose bodies aren’t mature enough yet for childbirth?

After delivery, both mother and child can be affected. The mother may fear sexual relations following childbirth. The child’s growth and development may be stunted compared to other children of the same age.

Dear listeners, we have come to the end of our program on causes and consequences of early and forced marriage. Thank you to our four speakers for the quality of their presentations.

Let’s remember that early and forced marriage is a harmful practice that deprives girls of their childhood and exposes them to violence, rape, sexually transmitted diseases, early, unwanted pregnancy, complications during pregnancy, and potentially, unsafe abortions. Early and forced marriage are major problems that must be addressed.

Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon with another issue. Until then, please stay well.

 

Anemia: Depletion of red blood cells (hemoglobin) in the blood.

Fetal distress: Harm to the fetus due to either lack of oxygen or insufficient nutrition. It can occur during pregnancy or at the time of delivery.

Perineum: The area between the genitals and the anus.