The problem of underage girl's marriage in underprivileged areas of Egypt
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Added on 2019-10-18
The problem of underage girl's marriage in underprivileged areas of Egypt
Added on 2019-10-18
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Professor Joan DassinStudent: Samah MansurThe problem of underage girl's marriage in underprivileged areas of EgyptIntroductionIn Egypt, child marriage is a widespread social phenomenon, which mainlyaffects girls living in poorer rural areas, and is becoming more prevalent in urban areas,including Upper Egypt (United Nations, 2012). Seventeen percent of girls are marriedbefore their eighteenth birthday (United Nations, 2012). Wealthy men from Egypt, andthe Arab region, including the Gulf, frequently travel to Egypt to purchase “temporarymarriages and tourism marriages” with underage Egyptian girls, including in some casesgirls who are under the age of 14 years (The Protection Project, 2011).These marriagesare often facilitated by the girl’s parents and through marriage brokers, sheikhs, lawyers,community leaders and Ma’azoons (authorized marriage ‘sheikhs’) who take bribes forregistering marriages of underage girls (NCCM, 2012). In 2008, the Egyptian government issued a law to determine the legal age formarriage is eighteen, and to criminalize the marriage under this age. As a result, thegovernment bans registration of marriage between couples under this age (Nour, 2009).However, many families in rural areas accept unregistered marriage until the girls turnseighteen and many religious leaders try to find leeway around the law for underagecouples’ marriages. Some religious leaders change the date of birth or use unofficialdocuments in the marriage certificate ( Nour, 2009).Child marriage is common in poor and underprivileged areas including Assuit,Sohag, Fayoum, and areas with strong tribal systems such as New Village, and the SinaiPeninsula, where hundreds of Bedouin tribes do engage in this practice on young girls.Furthermore, child marriage can be found in big cities such as Alexandria, Giza andincluding the country’s capital, Cairo. According to a study conducted in ruralcommunities of Egypt, 36 % of married women are married under the age of sexteen(UNICEF, 2005). In some districts such as El Hawamdia and Badrashen, around 45 -50% of young girls are forced by family members, community members, and religiousleaders to marry rich older men for money before their eighteenth birthday (NCCM,2012). These marriages, which are close to prostitution, can last for 5 days, 2 days oreven an hour (NCCM, 2012). As a result, these girls are abandoned and left eitherpregnant, taken by force to serve as maids in Egyptian homes and/or the Gulf in abusivesettings where they are malnourished and beaten or even sexually abused by othermembers of the husband’s family; abortions that may lead to death or hysterectomy; birth
of children with no father and hence no national identity nor birth certificate (UnitedNations, 2012). According to a study conducted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood(NCCM) on underage girls’ marriage in Egypt, the main reasons for this phenomenacould can be summarized as follows: poverty, widespread ignorance and high illiteracyrates among families;, lack of knowledge of dangers and negative consequences ofunderage marriage;, and lack of securing protection for victims. Extreme poverty is aresult of lack of good governance, lack of other economic opportunities and highperception of corruption, which leads parents to arrange marriage for their daughters torelieve themselves from financial burdens. In these contexts, marriage can literally meanone fewer mouth to feed. In addition, the girl’s family receives a ‘bride price’ of moneyor livestock from the husband, so marriage also becomes a way of bringing much neededresources into the family. Traditionally, the culture of early marriages had started in thesixteenth century for several reasons such as providing girls with physical and financialsecurity, to prevent them from losing their virginity outside of marriage, and to preventthem from having a sexual relationship before marriage (Abdelgabar, 2009).Issues of underage girls’ marriage are not prioritized in the agenda of the agenda of the Egyptian government, numerous of Non-governmental Organizations or human rights organizations, political parties, law enforcement organizations, media, and religious institutions (United Nations, 2012). As a result,there is lack of information regarding the gravity of such behavior, including its consequences for the girls who are involved. And since the content of other related mass media is monopolized by producersfrom the Gulf area, the media set by them plays a large part in the negative disseminationof the phenomena of early marriages, girls working as housemaids, and ridiculing and minimizing the extent by which these girls are subject to the most horrendous forms of violence and exploitation (United Nations, 2012).In light of the above, femalegirls’ victims in rural areas face many obstacles intheir access to services, including health services such as proper clinical care or evenhospital care when required (NCCM, 2012). Additionally, these girls often have noaccess to important resources, such as legal assistance, vocational training, financialassistance (e.g. micro and small loans for self-employment, postpaid sales opportunities,working from home opportunities, etc.), other employment opportunities, and reading andwriting and informal education outlets which might help to empower them or improvetheir economic and social situation (NCCM, 2012).In this context, this paper will analyze the current situation of underage girl'smarriage in poor and underprivileged areas of Egypt. It will highlight the root causes andeffects of this phenomenon based on a literature review and my experience as adevelopment practitioner for more than 12 years in Egypt, eight years of which wasmainly focused on fighting violence against women and gender issues. The paper will
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