"Severe disorders and serious complications" .. "Al-Dustour" opens the file of early marriage for children
The issue of child marriage in Egypt is no longer just individual cases that occur from time to time. Indeed, it happened recently when the security services arrested the families of my two children in the Hawamdiya district of Giza, after their engagement pictures were circulated.
The engagement pictures sparked widespread controversy on social media platforms, to express the Egyptians' rejection of this dangerous phenomenon, as it was not the first of its kind, as it was found that there are 117,000 children in the age group of 10 to 17 years who are married or have ever been married, according to The latest health demographic survey in Egypt announced by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
Reports also revealed that the governorates of Upper Egypt are the highest in terms of marriage and divorce rates, with the governorates of Marsa Matrouh, Aswan, the Red Sea and Sinai coming in at the lowest rate of child marriage in Egypt, so Al-Dustour touched on the following lines to open this thorny file, through Communicate with officials and specialists to clarify the mechanisms for limiting this phenomenon.
The Children's Rights Foundation: We are setting up a legal unit within 13 governorates to prevent child marriage
Hani Helal, director of the Egyptian Institute for the Rights of the Egyptian Child, demanded, at the beginning of his interview with "Al-Dustour", to activate a law criminalizing child marriage in Egypt, as well as to increase the penalties for violating authorized persons, explaining that the institution addresses the problem of child marriage through its possession of child protection committees , which monitors the violations against him, and reports them to the institution in all neighborhoods of Egypt.
He indicated that there is a legal unit in 13 governorates that deals with children's issues, especially the problem of child marriage, as it intervenes legally against parents who push their children to marry without reaching the legal age. Being considered a violation of childhood rights and a violation of Egyptian law.
He continued: "There is a problem in differentiating between engagement and marriage, as the Egyptian law does not have a provision that criminalizes engagement between children, so it falls under the item of exposing children to danger, but the constitution touched on the criminalization of marriage of children under the age of 18, pointing out that Upper Egypt societies Rural women are the most likely to engage in early marriage, due to reasons related to wrong customs and traditions aimed at protecting the honor of the girl and preserving the inheritance by marrying off the children to their relatives.
As for the mechanisms for confronting child marriage, he explained that a legal text must be issued to criminalize marriage and not to criminalize documenting contracts. Because the legal text currently in force is a criminalization of documentation and not of marriage itself, in addition to the cooperation of civil and religious institutions in launching awareness campaigns about the dangers of early marriage and refraining from it, calling for the development of legal legislation that punishes parents who intend to marry their children without reaching the legal age.
The director of the Egyptian Foundation for the Rights of the Egyptian Child added: "The need to amend the laws of authorized persons and to increase the penalties imposed on them in case they violate the law regarding signing marriage contracts for children without documentation until they reach the legal age in agreement with the children's parents in exchange for certain sums," pointing out that legal marriage is not Documented in government records is a major disaster for the wife; As it constitutes a loss of her rights and the right of her children to obtain birth certificates; Because the marriage contract was not documented.
Solidarity: We visit families in their homes to raise awareness of the dangers of early marriage
Dr. Amal Zaki, advisor to the awareness program for community development at the Ministry of Social Solidarity, explained in her interview with "Al-Dustour" that the awareness program confronts early marriage through several axes, including the direct contact that rural women pioneers make with the people in villages that are witnessing a rise in marriage. major in the marriage of minors, and activating the role of the Equal Opportunities Unit in the Women’s Department in all governorates; To monitor cases of early engagement, to hold visits to the parents' home, to persuade them to give up the idea of early marriage, and to educate them about its health and legal risks.
Zaki continued: “The Ministry of Solidarity is keen to confront the marriage of minors in various ways, to the extent that it stipulates that the wife reaches the legal age and that no one of the family members marry under the age in order to obtain support for solidarity and dignity,” in addition to launching awareness campaigns and mass seminars targeting all governorates of Egypt Pointing to the increase in the number of awareness campaigns, especially in the villages of the “Decent Life” initiative, within the framework of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Minister of Solidarity for the advancement of Egyptian villages.
As for the reasons for the prevalence of child marriage, Zaki attributed it to several interrelated factors, whether economic represented by the high rates of poverty and the family’s financial instability, or social reasons including family disputes and instability, or cultural reasons through the adoption of wrong concepts and ideas about marriage. The early marriage of the girl and its association with chastity and honor, and the early marriage of the boy and its connection with the abundance of childbearing and pride, in addition to the lack of awareness of the complications of early marriage for the husband and wife, referring to the governorates of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt that have the highest rates of child marriage.
The counselor of the awareness program for community development added that marriage without reaching the legal age poses a great danger to Egyptian society at all levels, including its contribution to the spread of illiteracy among girls; for preferring marriage over education, and increasing the risk of the population problem; Because early marriage results in an increase in the fertility rate and, consequently, frequent childbearing, in addition to the high divorce rates among young people; to increase domestic violence and family disputes caused by both partners not understanding each other; Given their young age, in addition to the increased neonatal mortality rate or the possibility of their disability; The mother's mental development is not complete, and thus the state imposes financial burdens on obtaining medicines.
Serious figures for child marriage
The UNICEF Foundation recently announced that 12 million girls worldwide get married before their 18th birthday every year, and if efforts are not accelerated to combat the phenomenon, more than 120 million boys and girls will be married by 2030.
In another report published by the World Bank and the International Center for Women's Research, it was found that developing countries will lose trillions of dollars due to child marriage by 2030, but if this phenomenon is prevented, there will be a significant positive impact on the fate of these young people in their future and the future of their children.
At the local level, the Ministry of Health and Population confirmed that Egypt receives 200,000 births every year as a result of child marriage, which represents a phenomenon that has major health, economic and social problems. The Child Helpline of the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood had received more than 500 reports of child marriage. During the first half of 2021, which sheds light on the significant spread of the crisis, and the need to develop a deterrent law against it.
Legal: The scene of the engagement of two children in Al-Hawamdia made us nauseous
From the legal side, lawyer Ayman Mahfouz explained that the phenomenon of child marriage has become noticeably multiplying in Egypt, and it must be deterred by any possible means, whether at the legal or educational level within the Egyptian villages that witness the highest rate of child marriage, as their families think that it is
As for the current law, Mahfouz indicated that the law currently in force to deter child marriage falls under the item of child endangerment, which Article 116 of the Egyptian Child Law stipulates No. 12 of 1996, amended by Law 126 of 2008, stipulates that anyone who commits a violation of a child’s right shall be punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years, and a fine of up to 5 thousand pounds, after an official report is issued by the relevant authorities such as the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood , with the violation of the two children, then the security authorities moved to arrest their families.
And he continued: "We need to activate a law that increases the penalty for child marriage in Egypt with deterrent penalties, to intimidate parents from the danger of marrying their children, in addition to the great role that educational, religious and media institutions have to play in promoting the danger of committing these practices, which cause Many health and economic crises.
He added: "Marriage of a minor is not punishable in and of itself, as it is an immoral and illegal act. The Sharia did not specify a specific age for the marriage of children, which made it permissible for parents under the pretext of concealment. However, it is impossible for Sharia to obligate this childish marriage to us, because of Its grave effects result from it and put our children in imminent danger.”
A female doctor: This exposes the wife to serious complications during pregnancy and threatens the health of the fetus
Dr. Omaima Al-Qadi, an obstetrician-gynecologist, explained the risks of child marriage from the health side, saying: "These practices clearly deprive them of their childhood, and threaten their health all the time. It is not normal for children at the age of 15, for example, to undergo marital relations And they give birth to other children in light of their incomplete awareness of the matter in the first place.”
She noted that this childish marriage prevents their right to stay in their schools, complete their education or achieve success in their lives, in addition to the grave health risks to which girls are exposed.
She continued: “I witnessed several incidents recently due to child marriage, the most prominent of which was the death of a girl after her marriage at the age of fourteen, due to confrontation with her Due to many hardships during childbirth, what made her die immediately because her body is still small and cannot bear the difficulty of pregnancy and childbirth.”
She warned the doctor of early pregnancy resulting from child marriage: “It comes at the stage of incomplete growth of the girl’s pelvis, which is what It is followed by a great risk of obstructed labor and rupture of the uterus, and thus the death of the mother and the child, and those who survive her pregnancy are exposed to other health risks in the future, such as fistula, while the child may suffer brain atrophy due to lack of oxygen.
Al-Qadi called on the children’s parents not to Marriage of their children and causing imminent danger to their lives, directing her appeal to the concerned authorities to spread health awareness about the dangers of the matter in small villages in Egypt, whose people do not realize the extent of their violation of the lives of children from a health and psychological point of view.
Psychiatrist: It results in severe personality disorders
Dr. Jamal Farwez, a consultant psychiatrist at the Military Medical Academy, warned of the psychological effects resulting from early marriage, such as the emotional deprivation that is born as a result of deprivation of living the childhood stage, and the inability to properly educate due to the lack of communication with children, which leads to injury. Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.
Fruiz explained that emotional attachment at a young age results in personality disorders. because the girl precedes the male intellectually and hormonally, and upon marriage no kind of mental equivalence occurs; Due to their varying capabilities, pointing to the occurrence of quarrels between the spouses when they reach the age of twenty, then the young man empties this into entering into suspicious relationships or marrying again, and these disturbances may push the wife to enter into virtual relationships on social networking sites, and thus separation occurs and the divorce rate rises among young people. .
The consultant psychiatrist added in his interview with Al-Dustour: “The reasons for the increase in the rate of child marriage can be divided into two axes. Therefore, they find marriage a way to escape instability, and the second axis lies in the reasons for the parents, including their desire to preserve the wealth, preserve the honor of the girl, and get rid of her responsibility. Awareness policy, by alerting clerics in mosques and churches to families of the harms of early marriage, and directing the media to adopt awareness campaigns and documentaries to renounce the idea of marriage under the legal age, pointing to the role of drama in creating awareness among Egyptian families of the penalties and dangers of child marriage, by broadcasting series and films that narrate a painful end for the perpetrators Early marriage.
