When the second annual G(irls)20 Summit got under way Tuesday, each of the 21 delegates stood up and finished the sentence “I am here because …” Answers ranged from acting as a voice for women around the world to questioning the lack of women working in science.
Conceived by The Belinda Stronach Foundation, the four-day meeting on empowering young women selects one student from each of the countries represented by the G20 plus one additional girl from the African Union and takes place ahead of the G20 summit next month.
Sudhir Shetty from the World Bank, Canadian singer Jann Arden and American actor Forest Whitaker are among the speakers who will discuss political, economic and social issues that the girls will use as the basis for a communiqué to be presented to G20 leaders.
Mabel van Oranje, chief executive of The Elders, an independent organization of global leaders chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and spearheaded by Nelson Mandela, will address the issue of child marriage. By phone from London, the human-rights advocate and wife of Prince Friso of the Netherlands said child marriage is a large-scale problem that not only violates girls’ rights but also prevents economic growth in impoverished regions.
Child marriage has been happening for centuries but only recently has it become a voiced concern. How serious is it?
Here’s an issue affecting 10 million girls a year who are getting married before the age of 18 and no one is talking about them. It’s a gross violation of human rights, but also, the consequences for them and their families and communities are enormous. They are pulled out of school and never allowed to go back so the ability to earn a decent living is impeded. And then they become of little economic value. Their value becomes their fertility – giving birth at the ages of 12, 13, 14. They are forced to deliver babies with their tiny bodies. If they don’t die during childbirth, their children are more likely to be ill or die in their first year. And then they lead isolated lives. So ultimately, this means that child marriage is a driving force of poverty.
Why does child marriage remain widespread?
It’s a matter of tradition; this has happened generation after generation. And that’s what is making it so hard to change – and also to discuss – because it’s easy to be accused of cultural imperialism. But if Archbishop Desmond Tutu or [ex-UN chief] Kofi Annan are talking about it, no one can tell them to stay out of it. As Elder member Graca Machel says, traditions are made by people so they can be changed by people. There are places in the world – Senegal and parts of India – where the process is changing on a grassroots level. But this doesn’t happen when the outsiders say it’s wrong; it happens from within the culture. Legislation is not a guarantee against child marriage.
As another example, female genital mutilation is still prevalent, even with laws?
In many places, tradition and social norms are much stronger than laws – which doesn’t mean laws shouldn’t exist. But in India the legal age for marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys; and yet one out of three child marriages happens in India. So laws don’t mean much gets implemented. There needs to be both judicial implementation and implementation from the communities based on their social norms.
What happens when the issue gets framed in economic terms? Do communities listen then?
That’s when they realize it’s not in their interest to continue. A woman who earns money reinvests 90 per cent back in her family while men direct 30 or 40 per cent back to their family. There is real benefit to investing in girls. If you want to break the cycle, a girl who is able to finish school at 16 or 18 and hasn’t had a child until later in life and is not forced to marry – the chances are that she will let not her own children marry before 18. Some people think you can never change tradition. That’s how people felt about foot binding in China. But that changed in one generation. I think the same can happen – once you get the current generation in school and out of marriage. They will never do it again to their own children. And then think of the economic benefits.
