Every 7 seconds a girl under 15 is forced into marriage

Those who live far from this reality often think that child marriage is no longer a common practice today. But data released this month by the British institution Save the Children point to the opposite. Every seven seconds a girl under the age of 15 is forced into marriage around the world.

A little over three years ago, in September 2013, the world was shocked by the death of Rawan, an eight-year-old girl who was forced to marry a 40-year-old man. deep wounds in the womb, recurrent from rape. She lived in Yemen and was sold by her stepfather, for about 6 thousand dollars.

But Rawan’s case is an exception to the rule. Not because of the violence suffered, but because the case was reported around the world. Child marriages – followed by rape and all kinds of violence – are far from uncommon, but one prefers to turn a blind eye to it.

Along with Yemen, countries like Afghanistan, India and Somalia top the list of places where the practice is frighteningly commonplace. At the time Rawan died, a survey carried out by the Human Rights Watch revealed that around 52% of girls marry before age 18 in Yemen, and 14% before age 15.

But make no mistake, because early marriage is also a reality in Brazil, as portrayed by magazine in an article carried out earlier this year. According to the article: “Brazil occupies the fourth place in the world in absolute number of married children. Wives aged 10 to 14 are 65,709; Of these, 2,600 signed a commitment to a registry office and/or church.”

Going back to the report save the children, the institution highlights the fact that child marriage contributes not only to sexual and domestic violence, but also to lower levels of schooling among women. Early pregnancy also increases the number of deaths among girls, as a large number of them become pregnant before their bodies are fully formed and die as a result.

In addition to warning about child marriage, the organization made a ranking showing which are the best and worst countries for a girl to live. More than 140 countries were evaluated based on data such as: rates of early marriage, teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality, women with complete primary education and female representation in politics. Brazil is in 102nd place on the list, in a worse position than countries like Pakistan and Iraq.