Child Marriage - Paper

Child marriage
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For the 2005 American film documentary, see Child Marriage (film).


Small child brides in India
Child marriage and child betrothal customs occur in various times and places, whereby children are given in matrimony - before marriageable age as defined by the commentator and often before puberty. Today such customs are fairly widespread in parts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America: in former times it occurred also in Europe. It is frequently associated with arranged marriage. In some cases only one marriage-partner is a child, usually the female, due to importance placed upon female virginity, the inability of women to work for money and to women's shorter reproductive life period relative to men's. An increase in the advocacy of human rights, whether as women's rights or as children's rights, has caused traditions of child marriage to decrease in many areas.
Contents   [hide]
1 Rationales
2 Child marriage by region
2.1 European Judaism
2.2 Africa
2.3 Asia
2.3.1 Subcontinental
2.3.2 Middle East
2.4 Oceania
2.5 North America
2.5.1 Canada
2.5.2 United States
3 List
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Rationales

Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy of some cultures, as in the European feudal era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families are able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry. The betrothal is considered a binding contract upon the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.
In Arab and Altaic societies arranged marriages were and are common. Children are often married to create a period for the spouses to know each other before consummating marriage. Feelings of closeness and loyalty were encouraged during these early years or months.
Elsewhere, where...