LET'S TRY AGAIN: Ending Child Marriage in NIger

TAKE ACTION

Dear "el dispreciau", We’re overwhelmed by your response to our earlier email. Unfortunately, so was our website. We’ve addressed the issue, so if you were unable to sign the petition, please try again. “After the wedding, he wanted to have sex with me, but I refused... He beat me and gagged me so he could get what he wanted.” Zeinabou, married in Niger at just 15 years old.[1] Fati Yahaya at just 20 has been married twice, divorced once, and suffered a postpartum hemorrhage after the birth of her first child.[2] Help demand the Nigerien Government outlaw child marriage. Three-quarters of girls in Niger are married before they are adults.[3] The age of consent is currently set at 15 years old, or earlier with parental permission. Thousands of young girls like Zeinabou and Fati face a life of abuse and unrealised potential. Child marriage often amounts to slavery: when girls haven’t given consent, or are controlled, exploited and unable to leave. Outlawing it is an important step towards protecting children in Niger. Call on Niger’s President to help outlaw child marriage and support young women to become leaders in their communities. President Mahamadou Issoufou has publicly declared his intent to invest in programs to reduce the prevalence of early marriages. But the country has failed to adopt a proposed law to change the legal marriage age to 18 for girls. Your support now could be the difference between a life of servitude or a life of empowerment for girls in Niger. With hope, Joanna and the Walk Free team [1]United Nations Population Fund : 16 Girls, 16 Stories of Resistance [2]United Nations Population Fund: Child Marriage Indicator [3]UNICEF Data: Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women

OUTLAW FORCED CHILD MARRIAGE IN NIGER

Three-quarters of girls in Niger are married before they are adults.1 Child marriage often amounts to slavery, for example, when girls have not given their free and full consent, are subjected to control, exploited and unable to leave, 2 so outlawing it is an important step towards protecting Niger children.

Right now young girls are being married off to older men.

Fati Yahaya at just 20 has been married twice, divorced once, and suffered a postpartum hemorrhage after the birth of her first child.3 With the age of consent for girls set at 15 years old, and many marrying younger with parental permission, thousands of girls like Zeinabou and Fati face a life of abuse and unrealised potential.

President Mahamadou Issoufou has publicly declared his intent to address the causes of child marriage through programs that he says will reduce the prevalence of early marriages from 60 to 40 percent.4 In addition, a law has been proposed to change the age to 18 for girls but it is yet to be adopted. 

Call on Niger’s President to outlaw the child marriage of girls.

*Image copyright of ILRI/Stevie Mann: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri

SOURCES

1. http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/jahia-publications/documents/publications/2012/ChildMarriage_8_annex1_indicator-definition.pdf↩
2. http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/when-does-child-marriage-become-slavery/↩
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/girls-education-niger_564ddb93e4b031745ceff27b↩
4. ibid.