Analyzing Child Marriage and Rights Violations: A Legal Perspective

This essay examines the violation of child rights through the practice of child marriage, with a specific focus on the region of Northern Nigeria. It begins by reflecting on the importance of children's rights and the need for legal frameworks, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), to protect them. The essay then defines child marriage, explores its causes including economic poverty, safety concerns, and religious doctrines, and presents a case study of child marriage in Northern Nigeria. It analyzes the impacts of child marriage on the mental and physical health of children, and concludes with recommendations for protecting children's rights. The essay emphasizes the importance of state agencies in safeguarding children within society and upholding international law.

Running head: VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
Violation of Rights of Child in Child Marriage
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Skill Reflection................................................................................................................................2
The need for a Doctrine on Rights of Child....................................................................................4
The Convention on Rights of Child, 1989.......................................................................................5
The social evil of child marriage.....................................................................................................5
Causes of child marriage.................................................................................................................7
Economic Poverty........................................................................................................................7
Safety and Security of the girl child............................................................................................8
Religious Doctrines.....................................................................................................................8
Research Trail..................................................................................................................................9
Case Study of Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria...................................................................10
Impact of Child Marriage..............................................................................................................13
Impact on the mind....................................................................................................................13
Health Issues..............................................................................................................................14
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16

2VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
Introduction
This paper seeks to discuss the cases of child marriage occurring in the world, with
specific focus on the region of Northern Nigeria. Finally, the essay concludes with the
importance of the agencies of the State to ensure the protection of the rights of the child in the
society. The main purpose of the essay is to analyze the violation of the rights of child as a result
of child marriage.
Skill Reflection
Children are the future of the world. It is the ultimate responsibility of the elder
population of the world to ensure that the environment in which a child grows up is conducive to
their wants and needs. It is often said that birth, death and marriage are the three assured
incidents to occur in one’s life (Erulkar, Medhin and Weissman 2017). This might have been true
during the days when people were governed by the laws of nature. However, this view point
began to change with the development of the human society. The institution of the agency of the
State brought about important and significant changes in the lives of people. The need for a
formal doctrine of rights was faced by the world. As such, the institution of the State began to
provide certain rights and freedom to the people, irrespective of any discrimination based on age,
gender, religious and other forms of discrimination. This in turn, led to the emergence of several
important conflicts as people had gotten used to a particular way of life (Kalamar, Lee-Rife and
Hindin 2016). The imposition of new rules and regulations and the idea of freedom which was
instituted after the end of the Second World War, was received in a mixed way by the general
population of the world. The main purpose of the provision of rights and freedom to the people
was to make them realize that they have control over their own self and that no one has the right

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to encroach upon their freedom without a reasonable justification. The nature of the world has
undergone a major change through the ages. The development of the human civilization has led
to the institution of many new changes in an attempt to eradicate those practices which are
considered to be socially unacceptable (Mostafa, Gambaro and Joshi 2018). This is seen to be a
direct consequence of the ideology of liberal democracy. A liberal democracy places the freedom
of an individual to its forefront. An individual is considered to sovereign and therefore has the
freedom to decide on his or life course of life. However, there are certain social evils which still
persist even in this age of globalization and liberalization. One such social evil is that of child
marriage (Maswikwa et al. 2015). One of the evils of the society which the laws try to eliminate
is the evil of child marriage (Koski et al. 2018). The institution of child marriage is grossly
violating many human rights and especially the doctrine of international law. International Law
has been formulated in an attempt to provide the basic universal human rights to the people so
that they may enjoy a dignified living. The social practice of child marriage goes against this
very principle of the sovereignty of the individual. This practice affects the psyche of the
children and the physical capability of the individual, especially that of the girl child. Child
marriage not only has an adverse consequence on the mental and physical aspect of the
individual, but also has severe consequences on the society as well. The social malpractices of
suicides and attempted killings are widespread in those regions which practices child marriage.
The aim is to therefore, eradicate child marriage and uphold the doctrine of international law.
Both the mental maturity and the physical maturity of a person is important as their body needs
to understand the growth and development required in order to tackle the everyday problems. All
of these does not occur under a few days. It requires time and patience before a child finally
grows up to be an adult. This process takes place during the first two decades of a person’s life.

4VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
Once a woman reaches her puberty age, she is physically matured, but her mental maturity takes
time. However, this is not taken in to account by the concerned elders of her family and she is
often made to marry a man who is much older to her, usually in his thirties or forties (Ribar
2015). Chances are rare that such a man will be gentle with her and treat her with care and
respect. Those engaging in child marriages are usually considered to be of a particular
conservative mind set and such men have often been found to torture their wives, re-coursing to
manipulation, molestation and sexual exploitation. As such, the existence of child marriage is
harmful not only for the children but also constitutes the occurrence of several adverse
consequences in the society by the way of physical harm and attempted murder or suicide.
The need for a Doctrine on Rights of Child
The rights granted to a child is considered to be important because of the fact that they
are too young to exercise their rights by themselves. The obligation therefore falls on the elder
population to ensure that the rights of a child are not encroached in any manner (Svanemyr et al.
2015). The need for the rights of a child was felt because of the fact that they are too young and
hence, can be manipulated and exploited easily by the older population. A child is still yet to
realize the various rights and freedom which is available to her or him. As a result, it is essential
that they should be protected till the time they are mature enough to understand the true power
they hold. The value of human life is incomparable but a child is the future of the entire world. It
is imperative that they must be protected and taken care of under any circumstances. Due to their
age, a child does not have the legal right to exercise much of the power (Parsons et al. 2015).
This authority is granted to their parents or legal care givers or to the institution of the State to
ensure that the child is taken care of. As a consequence, much of the rights of a child are not
enjoyed by them even if it is available to them and this decision depends on the people who are

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in charge of them. In order to prevent the exploitation of children, the world community has
instituted several important doctrines by which the right of a child can be maintained (Authur et
al. 2018).
The Convention on Rights of Child, 1989
For this purpose, a legal framework has been drafted by the international community to
protect the rights of the child. This legal framework is known as the Convention on the Rights of
Child, which was formalized in the year 1989 (Kidman 2016). According to the Convention, a
child is defined as “any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law
applicable to the child. Majority is attained earlier.” (Delprato et al. 2015) The Convention was
drafted and formalized by the United Nations to ensure cultural, social, political, economic and
civic rights of a child. The nations of the world who has ratified to this doctrine are legally
obligated to follow the provisions of this Convention. This compliance by the different countries
of the world is monitored by an organization named the United Nations Committee on the Rights
of Child (Anyama and Mohammed 2018). The Committee observes the actions of the nations
and submits a report accordingly to the United Nations General Assembly. The General
Assembly then adopts a resolution on the rights of a child. For the purposes of maintaining the
freedom of the children, the Convention has adopted three Optional Protocols. The First Optional
Protocol provides that no child shall be recruited in the military services and in military conflicts.
The Second Optional Protocol prohibits, in an absolute sense, child labor, child pornography and
the sexual exploitation of children. All these activities are strictly punishable by law (Hay 2015).
The Third Optional Protocol provides the relative ease of communicating complaints and
grievances by children to the relative authority. The Optional Protocols have been ratified by
more than one hundred and sixty countries of the world (Craig 2016).

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The social evil of child marriage
A child is entitled to two different types of human rights as granted by the international
Law. First, they have all the natural universal rights as those granted to an adult. For instance,
they have the right to survival, the freedom of speech and expression and the right against
exploitation, among others (Kalmijn 2015). Moreover, as a minor, a child is also entitled to
certain special rights which are categorized as the rights granted to a child. For instance, a child
has the right to protection. The legal guardian of a child has the obligation to ensure that the
child is protected and taken care of in a proper manner. All the basic needs and wants of a child
are required to be fulfilled by the legal guardian. This right is not granted to an adult as the State
is of the opinion that an adult has the ability to take care of itself whereas a child does not
(Bharadwaj 2015). Another important right which is granted exclusively to a child is the right of
provision. It is the duty of a State to ensure a child has access to a good standard of living and
has all the basic amenities provided to them. Moreover, it is the duty of a State to provide
elementary education to a child so that he or she grows up to be an ideal human being and a
capable adult.
One of the gravest social evil in respect of a child which still exists in the present
contemporary world is that of child marriage (Fagan and Saunders 2017). The legal age of a
person to marry is considered to be eighteen years for a girl and twenty one years for a boy.
However, this age bar is not followed to the letter by many countries of the world, especially the
countries of the eastern part of the world. Child marriage is considered to be the marriage
between two children or, often times, the marriage of an underage girl with that of a man who is
much older to her. This is seen in the countries which follow the Islamic faith. Their religious
doctrines provides for the institution of child marriage and these countries follow their religious

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doctrines as their legal guideline. Most often these child marriages occur with the consent of the
parents and this makes it very hard for the agency of the State to take legal actions against them
as the parents are the legal guardian of their children and therefore has a say in their future
(Sundaram, Travers and Branson 2018). However, in those states where the legal framework in
based on practical developments and not on religious doctrines, it becomes comparatively easier
to punish those engaging in child marriages.
Causes of child marriage
There are several reasons why the social evil of child marriage is still prevalent in the
world.
Economic Poverty
The first reason for the occurrence of child marriage is that of economic poverty. For the
basic survival of human beings, there are certain pre-requisites such as food, clothing and shelter.
It is the duty and responsibility of a state to ensure that these are provided to all the individuals
living within its geographical territory (Nguyen and Wodon 2017). However, many times than
not, the agency of the State fails to live up to its promises and people are left to fend for
themselves. During such times of crisis, those people who do not have the means nor the
monetary resources to ensure their survival, are left to take extreme measures for their existence.
One such measure taken by them is to marry their child to a wealthy person who has the finances
needed to take care of them. In this scenarios, it is often the girl child who is sacrificed. A girl
child belonging to an economically weaker family is forced to marry a person much older than
her for the purposes of monetary resources (Iustitiani and Ajisuksmo 2018). This form of child
marriage often results in the sexual exploitation of the girl child as the man to whom she is

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usually married to knows the dependency of the family on his wealth. This gives him a free reign
to do as he pleases, resulting in the gross violation of abundant human rights.
Safety and Security of the girl child
Another ironic reason for the existence of child marriage is the fear of the parents for the
safety and security of their female child (Cocker 2015). Some of the parents around the world
believe that girls who are above the age of eighteen is a burden on the family and hence should
be married of. Moreover, there is a general believe that the girls who are unmarried, are more
prone to be molested and the parents fear of the stigma which will persist after such instances of
molestation. In order to prevent this, the parents try to marry off their girl child at an early stage
so that their character may remain untouched. However, this is ironic because child marriage is
often associated with sexual exploitation and molestation. The girl child is forced to marry a
person who is much older to her in age and is also financially secured (Savadogo and Wodon
2016.). The men, more often than not, turn out to be unscrupulous in nature and engage in
activities of domestic violence where they subdue their wives. As such, the very idea of child
marriage to protect the dignity and integrity of the girl child, has an adverse effect on the
concerned woman.
Religious Doctrines
One of the most important cause of child marriage is the religious doctrines. Majority of
the people of the world are highly religious in their ideologies and this has a direct impact on the
way the agency of the State functions (Barnett 2015). It is the duty of the State not to interfere in
the religious lives of the people and even if they do, they must ensure that they do not agitate the
majority population. As such, the religious doctrines are adhered to by the people in their
personal capacity and are also adhered to by the agency of the State at certain times. For

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instance, the Code of Canon Law of 1983 of the Latin Church provides that the minimum
marriageable age of a male is sixteen years while that of a female is fourteen years (Richardson
2017). In the instance of Spain, the valid marriageable age of the people was increased to
eighteen years from its earlier fourteen years. In the country of Mexico, people below the age of
eighteen years are allowed to marry with the consent of the parents (Singh et al. 2018). As such,
boys who are more than sixteen years of age and girls who have reached fourteen years are
allowed to get married. In such cases, the agency of the State does not have the right to interfere
as they are the societal norms and traditions. However, several countries have taken the step to
adhere to the rights of a child by trying to prevent child marriage. For instance, the country of
Ukraine, in the year 2012, tried to establish an equal age of marriage for both the genders (Sieg
and Wang 2018). However, in order to appease the society, it gave an important clause that
people above the age of sixteen have the permission to marry if it is established that is in their
best interest to get married. In the religion of Islam, the marriageable age of the people are not
fixed. In the religious scriptures it is said that people who have attained puberty have the right to
get married. Since there is no fixed age during which puberty occurs, it has been left to the
religious head of the faith and the concerned parents to decide when their children would get
married. As such, most of the child marriages occur in this religious faith as the countries which
adhere to the Islamic faith, abide by the words of the religious doctrines even in the legal matters
(Walker 2015). In other words, the judicial system of such countries allow child marriages to
take place, without imposing any sort of punishment on the concerned parents or on the
concerned individuals. Moreover, once married, a female does not have the liberty or the
freedom to leave her husband under any circumstances. As a result, cases of sexual exploitation

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and manipulation are the highest in the religious faith of Islam as people take undue advantage of
the religious doctrine.
Research Trail
For the purposes of carrying out this research which proves the existence of child
marriages in different parts of the world, many articles and journals were consulted. This is
known as secondary research. Secondary research refers to the consultation of journals, articles
documents and all those sources which have already been published and documented and is
available to the public for the purposes of research and knowledge (Veenema, Thornton and
Corley 2015). In such secondary researches, there is no first hand primary collection of data.
Secondary research allows the researcher to combine all the different sources together and show
the points which have already been discussed. As such, this poses as a strength of secondary
research since the data collected has already been verified by the author of the original source
before. However, one of the major drawbacks of secondary research is that there is no new
collection of data. As such, the ground reality of the contemporary world is not taken in to
consideration. This means that there might be certain changes which are overlooked.
Case Study of Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria
Instances of child marriage can be found in many parts of the world in the present
contemporary age. In the region of Northern Nigeria, the frequent occurrences of child marriage
has become a grave concern. There has been some efforts undertaken by the Government of
Nigeria to eradicate the evil of child marriage but it has been unable to do so. The Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria in its Section 23 lays down that “a person under the age of 18 is
incapable of contracting a valid marriage (LaFave and Thomas 2017). If such a marriage does
take place, it should be declared null and void and of no effect.” Contrarily, Section 29(4b) of the

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same constitution technically approves child marriage by stating that “This is by its provision
that any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age” (LaFave and Thomas 2017).
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Part I Section 61 provides for the
protection of the female child with regards to child marriage. However, this provision is not
strong enough to prevent underage girls being married off under societal pressure. As such, in
the year 2003, the Government of Nigeria enacted the Child Rights Act, 2003 in an attempt to
prevent child marriage from taking place (Roach 2017). The Act provided that the minimum age
of girls who are to marry shall be eighteen years. The evil practice of child marriage is still in
prevalence in the region occupied by the Hausa Fulani tribe, whose people are mainly Muslim.
They occupy the region of Northern Nigeria and adhere to the scriptures of the Sharia Law of the
Islamic faith. However, the Child Rights Act, 2003 does not have the necessary power to prevent
child marriage as there is an important clause where the Act needs to be ratified by every State of
Nigeria for the provisions of the Act to be effective in that particular state. If a state does not
ratify it, then the provisions of the Act will not be effective in that particular state of Nigeria. To
this date, only twenty four states out of the thirty six states of Nigeria has passed the Child
Rights Act, 2003.
One of the most disturbing cases in Nigeria with regard to child marriage is that of
Wasila Tasi’u. Wasila Tasi’u was only a child when she was forced to marry a man who was
much older to her (Sears et al. 2017). Tasi’u was arrested on the pretext of murdering her
husband who was thirty five years of age and also, a few more people who attended her wedding
party. Wasila Tasi’u told her lawyer that on the night of their wedding, her husband, Umar Sani
had tied her to the bed and molested her all night long. The event traumatized her so much that
she could not even remember her own name when she was presented before the court. She was

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taken to the prison in Gezawa and is awaiting a death penalty for the alleged murder. In the
country of Nigeria such acts invites the incarceration of the prisoner while her parents would
have a limited access to her in her deathbed.
In order to retaliate against such social evil practices, a campaign was launched in the
country of Nigeria, known as Girls Not Brides (Hamad and Rehkopf 2016). According to a
survey, around seventeen present of the women in the country are married off even before they
reach the age of fifteen years. In the region of the Muslim dominated people of the Hausa Fulani
tribe, around forty eight percent of the women population get married before the age of fifteen
years while nearly seventy eight percent of the women population gets married before the age of
eighteen years. This reveals the sad state of affairs which exists in the territorial boundary of
Nigeria.
The political situation of Nigeria also favors the existence of child marriage. This was
evidenced from the example of Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima. Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima was a
representative of the Zamfara West in Northern Nigeria. In the year 2010, he married a thirteen
year old girl child, of Egyptian origin. After three years, a Bill was passed by the Government of
Nigeria which allowed the married women, who are below the age of eighteen years, to be
considered as an adult (Heim, Lurie and Simon 2017). Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima persuaded
his allies in the Government to defeat the Bill as this would mean that his wife would get all the
rights and freedom as granted to an adult person. This reveals the horrors of child marriage
which has permeated deep in to the social structure and political setup of the country.
A lawyer working in the International Federation of Women layers, is currently handling
around sixty cases, all of them dealing with child marriages. She has a case where an eleven year
old attempted suicide, a week before she was about to get married to a man of forty five years of

13VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
age. There is also a case of n twelve year old who is charged with attempted murder of her
husband. All these cases show that the innocence of the childhood whose maintenance is the
utmost priority of the state, is being grossly violated (Knopp et al. 2017). The State has the
obligation to ensure a quality standard of living for all of its citizens and special care need to be
given to the children as they are minors and hence, does not have the power to exercise their
rights and freedom. However, all these instances of child marriage reveals that the State has been
a failure to maintain the dignity and integrity of a child.
Impact of Child Marriage
Impact on the mind
Child marriage has severe consequences for the concerned children. The mental maturity
of a child is in its developing phase till around the time they reach eighteen years of age and even
beyond. This is so because the maturity of the brain depends upon a host of factors such as that
of experiencing the world, understanding what is going on around them, gaining relevant
knowledge, among a few others (Stover et al. 2016). Marriage is something which requires the
growth and development of both the mental aspect as well as physical maturity. However, in the
event of a child marriage, such people do not wait for such maturity to occur, or else they are of
the opinion that such maturity is not required. This often stems from the view that women mature
faster than men and hence, their marriageable age is comparatively less than that of a man.
Moreover, this is also the side effect of illiteracy. This has widespread consequences on the
physical aspect of the child as well as the emotive aspect.
One of the most concerning impact of child marriage on the mental appearance of a child
is the emotional trauma they receive, especially the girl child. Child marriages occur at the age of

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twelve to fourteen years or, in some countries, as soon as the woman enters her puberty stage.
This, in consequence, results in an emotional trauma on the girl child as her whole childhood is
now scarred with horrific memories. Due to the incomplete development of her metal maturity,
she is unable to grasp the reality and understand what is happening to her is morally and legally
wrong. However, if she does understand, she tries to retaliate in the ways known to a child, that
is by fighting and taking recourse to violent measures (Sanjaya et al. 2018). This often results in
serious harm and injury to the girl child itself by way of attempted suicide, or injury to the
husband by the way of attempted killing. This then assumes a whole different level of trauma for
the girl as she is now charged with serious legal actions at a mere age of twelve or thirteen.
Health Issues
Another grave impact of child marriage is related to the heath issues. Many people equate
marriage with sexual inter course and this has serious adverse consequences on the health of the
concerned individuals. The concern of AIDS and HIV are high among the young population
especially those who are engaged in an intimate relationship (Hallfors et al. 2015). Unplanned
pregnancies are a frequent occurrence in child marriage. Sexually transmitted diseases or STDs
are very common in the cases of child marriage (Kornin 2017). This so happens because there is
hardly any dissemination of knowledge for safe intercourse and the girl brides are often left to
the mercy of their much older husbands who have a stronger voice in such matters. The girl bride
is expected to follow and obey the wishes and demands of her husband which often leads to such
dire consequences. The use of protection is frowned upon in these parts of the world where child
marriage is considered to be the norm. The husband takes this as an insult on their reputation and
character and hence, no one has the courage to tell him otherwise. This, in turn, has a serious

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adverse consequence on the health of the girl child and they are severely affected, often times
resulting in their death or serious health problems.
Child marriage is also considered to be one of the most important factors for the
occurrence of cervical cancer in the girl child. The sub-Saharan countries are the ones which are
widely impacted with this disease. Almost twenty two percent of the entire female population is
affected by this health problem. The factors leading to cervical cancer has been identified as
polygamous marriage that is the cases where the husband has more than two wives, unhealthy
genital hygiene which occurs as a result of illiteracy and high parity of children.
Recommendations
In order to eradicate the social evil of child marriage which only has adverse
consequences on the population, several measures can be taken to this regard. First, there is an
imminent need to educate the people on the importance of attaining maturity before they marry
another person. Marriage as an institution demands a lot of responsibilities, not only towards
oneself but more importantly towards the other person. Such responsibilities can only be fulfilled
if the concerned individuals are educated and matured enough and understand the requirements
of marriage.
Moreover, there is a need for people to understand the importance of respecting the
freedom of the individuals. In the contemporary world, a lot of institutions have been established
whose main purpose is to ensure that the freedom and rights of the people which are granted to
them are not abridged or encroached upon in any manner (Mengistu 2017). This is the utmost
requirement of a person in order to enjoy a dignified standard of living. The agency of the United
Nations has been set up to formulate and implement several international laws which are

16VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
acceptable to all the states of the world. One such international law is that of prevention of child
marriage. Child marriage is considered to be a serious breach of trust on the part of a child as this
social evil leads to traumatic experiences for the child. The child does not get the right to
exercise his or her freedom and as such, this goes against the dictum of international law.
A third important recommendation to prevent the occurrence of child marriage is to
implement a liberal democracy framework in the political structure of the State. A liberal
democracy has the significant responsibility to allow individuals their freedom and to ensure that
the life led by an individual is dignified. Such a state structure is not run by the religious
doctrines of a scripture (Lhamu 2018). Rather, the policy makers of the state are practical in their
orientation and formulate and implement those policies and rules which are for the betterment of
the society and the people. A democratic state has the ultimate responsibility towards its people
and not towards the Higher Supernatural Being. As a result, following the liberal state structure
will be beneficial for the individuals they are the sovereign entity of the State and has the entire
hold over their lives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is observed that child marriage is a social evil which needs to be
eradicated. The institution of child marriage is grossly violating many human rights and
especially the doctrine of international law. International Law has been formulated in an attempt
to provide the basic universal human rights to the people so that they may enjoy a dignified
living. The social practice of child marriage goes against this very principle of the sovereignty of
the individual. This practice affects the psyche of the children and the physical capability of the
individual, especially that of the girl child. Child marriage not only has an adverse consequence
on the mental and physical aspect of the individual, but also has severe consequences on the

17VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHILD IN CHILD MARRIAGE
society as well. The social malpractices of suicides and attempted killings are widespread in
those regions which practices child marriage. The aim is to therefore, eradicate child marriage
and uphold the doctrine of international law.

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