Read Anna Badkhen's account of child grooms in Afghanistan.
More than 50 million girls under the age of 17 in developing countries are married; millions more are at risk of being forced into child marriages. The practice is rife in Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair captured some of these young women. The image above was selected as UNICEF's "Photo of 2007."
Faiz Mohammed, 40, and Ghulam Haider, 11, sit in her family's home prior to their wedding in the rural village of Damarda, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2005. Ghulam said she is sad to be getting engaged as she wanted to be a teacher. Her favorite class was Dari, the local language, before she was made to drop out of school. Married girls are seldom found in school, which limits their economic and social opportunities. And parents sometimes remove their daughters from school to protect them from the possibility of sexual activity outside of wedlock -- which would virtually preclude their chances of getting a husband. Early pregnancies also result in an increase in complications during childbirth. It is hard to say exactly how many young marriages take place, but according to the Afghan Women's Ministry and women's NGOs, approximately 57 percent of Afghan girls get married before the legal age of 16.
Stephanie Sinclair / VII
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CHANGWA
1:55 AM ET
May 22, 2011
Very Sad
Seem like marriage clearly is imposed on women against their will. Those brave enough to complain to the courts or run from their homes are hunted down by their families and forced to return or, all too frequently, murdered to restore a distorted sense of honor. Shame on them as i go back to my karmaloop codes Just wow
TAYLORWILSON
11:43 AM ET
May 22, 2011
function of condition
While I personally can't condone this on any level, it also goes to show how poverty and desperation and corrupt human beings.
Also it would appear that such practices are unlikely to change until there is a change in general economic prosperity of the average afghan.
Morality appears to be more of a luxury item when trying to scrape out a basic living and the practices seem to be so ingrained in the thinking of the population that just hearing others in the west say its wrong is not likely to create any change.
Until this part of the world can move to a type of democracy and economic system that can work in that area of the world, its unlikely this practice is going to change, regardless of what we think about it.
Taylor
Toronto Mortgage Broker
SISIL
7:42 AM ET
May 24, 2011
Excuses
Sorry Taylor,
But you seem to be excusing this behavior b/c it is motivated by poverty.
Morality and common decency is not a luxury item. The abuse of women is not just for the poor.
This article didn't clearly show it but there are child brides among the wealthy too. Women are simply things in the Muslim-Arab world. Women are not considered full human beings by a huge segment of this culture. They are there for sex, babies, and housekeeping. Their desires and need to feel safe are not considered.
If a man has sons he does not sell them as sex slaves to other men, even if he is poor he finds a way to feed them. If he has daughters then his reasoning is that he cannot supprt them.
My great grandmother (who I knew) and grandparents (some of whom are still here) lived in abject poverty in Eastern Europe. Great Grandma was an orphan in her teenage years and lived as a virtual slave in her sister's house. Despite this she chose her husband and married at the age of 17. She said that it was considered young, but her husband was only a few years older and despite his early death she remained faithful to him until her death at 93. Her children married at the ages of 19 to 24... All to people of their own choosing. Despite her illiteracy a slightly nomadic lifestyle searching for food and scraps of income after her their father's death their mother never thought to sell them or abandon them to a life of abuse and misery. They were just as poor as the folks featured in these articles.
Saying that morality is a luxury is justifying these atrocious behaviors and forgetting that many of those who CAN afford morality are still engaging in this practice.
FSILBER
12:51 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Poverty and desperation?
If there were less poverty and desperation, they would simply have more and more children until poverty and desperation appeared. The more surplus people you can produce, the more people you have to die while killing infidels.
QUIKSTOP85
1:07 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Judging Through Western Eyes
I disagree with the above responses. You do not even have to look that far into the American past to find a time when daughters were sold into marriage or prostitution to pay off debts or when sons were basically sold to factory owners or as farm hands. You may view these marriages of young girls to old men as deplorable, gross and creepy, but your lens is that of an American where we are against such an act de facto and de jure.
Afghanistan, as you all know, has certainly not caught up with the rest of the world in more ways than just this. To judge these people who live in extreme destitution and hunger is patriarchy. Taylor is right to note that practices such as these flourish in places of severe economic hardship. You should indeed be proud of your grandmother for being a faithful wife for so many years, despite her harsh childhood and early adult years, but I think, looking at things fairly, that the wonderful story of your family is an exception to the rule.
Furthermore, to say that "Muslims treat women as things" is just plain racist. There are plenty of Muslim people who treat their mothers, daughters, sisters with the utmost respect and loyalty. Remember, there are over one billion Muslims in the world. Also, since when did America have such a great track record with women's rights? It is the Arab world that has had more female heads of state and members of Parliament. Our women still get paid less than men and have a harder time advancing in the workplace. Domestic abuse is still a major problem. We still have strip clubs, brothels and smut magazines. American Christians, it appears, treat women as things as well.
QUIKSTOP85
1:07 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Judging Through Western Eyes
I disagree with the above responses. You do not even have to look that far into the American past to find a time when daughters were sold into marriage or prostitution to pay off debts or when sons were basically sold to factory owners or as farm hands. You may view these marriages of young girls to old men as deplorable, gross and creepy, but your lens is that of an American where we are against such an act de facto and de jure.
Afghanistan, as you all know, has certainly not caught up with the rest of the world in more ways than just this. To judge these people who live in extreme destitution and hunger is patriarchy. Taylor is right to note that practices such as these flourish in places of severe economic hardship. You should indeed be proud of your grandmother for being a faithful wife for so many years, despite her harsh childhood and early adult years, but I think, looking at things fairly, that the wonderful story of your family is an exception to the rule.
Furthermore, to say that "Muslims treat women as things" is just plain racist. There are plenty of Muslim people who treat their mothers, daughters, sisters with the utmost respect and loyalty. Remember, there are over one billion Muslims in the world. Also, since when did America have such a great track record with women's rights? It is the Arab world that has had more female heads of state and members of Parliament. Our women still get paid less than men and have a harder time advancing in the workplace. Domestic abuse is still a major problem. We still have strip clubs, brothels and smut magazines. American Christians, it appears, treat women as things as well.
SUPAMONKEY
4:01 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Ever heard of Bacchabazi?
To say that the treatment is targeted only towards women is incorrect, at least in the context of the Afghans. Taylor is right in thinking that empowerment of the poor (not just the women) is the solution.
In case you didn't know what Bacchabazi is, it is the practice of buying young( as young as 5 years old) boys by the rich and powerful in Afghanistan to be used as sex slaves, Dancers, wedding "entertainers" etc.
BEAKER55
11:06 AM ET
June 10, 2011
condition of function
Taylor, your response seems so typical in the 30 second soundbite world in which we live. However, if your assumption were correct (about poverty thing), then why wasn't this practice rampant here in the U.S. during the depression? And why has it been historically rampant in the in the Muslim world? Bingo! It's not the poverty thing; it's the religious thing. This practice is purely an Islamic tradition after the pattern established by the Prophet Mohammed. We should stop trying to placate our distaste with this practice by legitimizing it through a pandering kind of tolerance. This is a barbaric tradition and is absolutely brutal to girls and young women in the Middle East. I agree that it's unlikely to change any time soon. But, to blame it on poverty is just a simplistic excuse to blindly tolerate the real cause which is Islam in it's oldest and purest form.
JOHNBELLEVUE
7:07 PM ET
May 22, 2011
Child Marriage
Child marriage can have serious, even fatal consequences for young women.
- Young women often must drop out of school and are isolated from friends and from access to information.
- They face a serious power imbalance in marriage - they may not be able to assert their rights to their older husbands or, at worst, are physically and/or sexually abused.
- They lack access to birth control and the autonomy to use it and so, experience childbirth at a very young age. The choice of an appropriate umbrella stroller is a tough one at that age. Girls under age 15 are five times as likely to die in childbirth as those over age 20 and girls ages 15-19 are twice as likely.
- They often cannot convince or even ask their husbands to use condoms, and so, are at risk for HIV. In some developing countries, young married women are more at risk for HIV than young married women.
- They may not have access to health care or assistance programs.
As a conclusion, one might say that child marriage harms young women and is a violation of human rights.
SONGSHU
5:57 AM ET
May 23, 2011
Ancillary Info?
Is it common for all of these women to be photographed so openly? Who is the photographer? A Woman? Native Afghan?
Is the practice of marrying extremely young women only a pashtun tradition?
Why do none of the Hazaras pictured wear hijabs?
The imagery is vivid but some supplemental information besides the pablum offered above would have been nice
NASOCHKAS
12:05 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Agreed. I would imagine that
Agreed. I would imagine that Pashtun and Hazara customs are not exactly the same, though a lack of education and poverty probably leads to early marriages in both groups.
NASOCHKAS
12:04 PM ET
May 24, 2011
child brides
None of our pacification or development efforts in Afghanistan are going to matter until women stop being treated like cattle. No society can become civilized if men are willing to sell their own daughters and husbands abuse their wives and mothers of their children to this extent.
The best we can do for Afghanistan is educate the women. The changing of ingrained cultural norms and mindsets will take many generations to achieve however.
MOLLYMALONE
11:51 PM ET
May 24, 2011
Waaaaait a minute
Umm .... why are by-all-observable-measures normal weddings between of-age Afghans being lumped in with the child bride issue in this slideshow? Are all weddings between Afghans presumed to be forced, weird, and primitive?
"An Afghan bride's mother and grandmother fasten an earring on Aug. 30, 2002, in Kabul. After the Taliban fled, marriage halls opened once again. On Fridays, beauty salons were filled with brides, hotels were jammed with young couples, and streets were packed with streams of cars, blaring their horns as Afghans rushed to get married after decades of war."
Sorry? The Taliban was beaten back and so a bunch of people who couldn't get married before for whatever reason suddenly got married. That's bad because...?
Then there's this one, from the caption to a photo of a girl (bride? daughter of beauty parlor owner? little sister of bride-to-be? are we supposed to assume that she's a bride?) outside a beauty parlor:
"Behind drawn curtains, isolated from men, Afghan women spend hours getting ready for engagement parties and weddings."
The strange world of Afghan weddings indeed! Women in *normal* countries never do that.
The child bride problem is pervasive, horrifying, and tragic. But lumping it together with images that represent, as far as I can tell, non-awful, non-horrible weddings is confusing. Not all Afghans have tragic, exotic behaviors you know. Some of them have like, normal people weddings.
DELAVERA
6:12 AM ET
May 25, 2011
sick mentality
Well... as they say in courts, either the judge or the culprit is right. Not both.
Either those people know something we do not know, or their mentality just sucks.
Practices like feminine genital mutilation come to reinforce the later.
As for the brides... a kid is a kid no matter where s/he lives, and as such there are rights to be applied there.
It'd be good to see our politicians to talk about those issues instead of worrying about those people's oil only.
John
BATEAUMAURICE
4:44 AM ET
May 26, 2011
Amazingly surprising
No matter how much you respect people's belief, this is not freedom to marry a 11 years old girl.
She didn't have any word to say and craziest thing of all, she accepts it because she knows she doesn't have boat france any choice.
What a sad story, and a common one.
WOMENSWORKUSA
5:21 AM ET
May 27, 2011
Subjugation of Women is World Wide
The USA is not free of subjugation either; look at our women's magazines which focus on beauty and sex appeal, music that has choreography akin to a red light district, child models who are made to look sexy, pageants where girls under 10 are cat walking, and a clothing industry intent on slut wear starting with the underwear! We are merely shades of this Middle East article, women doing unto women, to keep the status quo alive.
It's time for a worldwide revolt by women, a refusal to tolerate all of the above, along with the ever-present violence that accompanies such demoralization.
WOMENSWORKUSA
5:56 AM ET
May 27, 2011
Don't Judge Too Quickly
And, I should have added; At the time of his betrothal to Mary, Joseph is presented as a man of old age. Mary was between 12-14 and Joseph over 50. So this type of nonsense has been going on since the time of Abraham and Christians should feel no sense of superiority in the matter!
JUSTCOLLEEN
11:56 PM ET
May 30, 2011
Your point would be valid if
Your point would be valid if Joseph and Mary were having secks, but the purpose of their union was so Jesus would have a legitimate mother.
Pinning part of the blame on Jewish history (after all, Jesus was Jewish!) makes no sense. This article is talking about modern Afghanistan, not what may or may not have happened 2,000 years ago.
GREGORY M
7:12 AM ET
May 29, 2011
Utterly Disgusting
Wow, how disgusting this article is and how sick it made me. I don't mean the author, but the content and how these young girls are thrown into marriage with older men. Its so disgusting and I can't believe that there isnothing being done about it.
I mean come on, it's bad enough being thrown into marriage without even loving the person or barely knowing them, and not even getting to choose who you marry. And then they are going to do this to young girls, some as young as 10? How disgusting and embarrassing.
You know the United States is known worldwide brands as a country that dictates everything that goes on in the world. They especially like to dictate stuff like wars and who is holding weapons of mass destruction, nukes, and other things.
Well I think that the USA should start dictating other things to. Like I don't know, things like LITTLE GIRLS BASICALLY GETTING RAPED. It's disgusting and ridiculous and if we are going to be a country that dictates around the world, we should dictate stuff like that also. Either us or one of our wealthyaffiliates like Europe, China the UK or another rich country that has the power to dictate world issues.
I understand the dictatorship of war and all - but personally I think this situation is almost as important. They're just little girls in most cases and it's not fair to then at all that they are forced into marriage with grown men. What about what they want - their hopes and dreams? Come on it's absolutely ridiculous.
And I don't know where the parents are for these girls. Because I don't care what the circumstances or consequences are, I'm going to be a doba and make sure that my little girl does not marry some strange 40 year old man. It's absolutely ridiculous that this is going on, it blows my mind.
And Afghanistan is already known for it's drugs, especially heroin. And they're responsible for a lot of the heroin addiction and opiate addiction that is in the United States and around the world. Now they're also known for old men marrying young girls, some of them pre-teens? Great image you got going there Afghanistan.
I don't want to babble on too much more so I'll end it there. But this article definitely hit a nerve in me and I think it's utterly disgusting what's going on over there. And it makes me furious.
SISTAGIRL
2:59 AM ET
June 6, 2011
Marrying old goats
The bane of society isn't AIDS. It ain't even NeNe Leakes. I don't know why her name reminds me of a continence issue? It's Viagra. Marrying old goats is possible because of Viagra. I see these young women with these old fogeys and I can understand the use of drugs.Take the money and run. Just walk real fast the old goat will never catch you. Case in point. I saw a young picture of Hugh Hefner that he wouldn't remember.Which is a good thing.But your days of "being" with the young ladies is over. Look at Gretchen from HWoOC. You know Gretchen was "fond' of home-boy.But then Kevin(??) became terminal. Wow. I pray I don't live beyond the point where I can maintain my personal hygiene. One never knows. Reachin' your maturity ain't easy.
DURKOVICS
7:45 PM ET
June 8, 2011
What is the meaning of a family?
I was taught that the family is a basic element for a responsible and respectful society.
In a family - according my understanding there have to be parrents - where Mom and Dad should cherish their relatitonship, and hopefully kids who are being the fruit of love and careful planning.
This should be the general rule, and not the exception.
Aren't we all trying to achieve happiness in life?
Why should not start with something to reflect this.
Now explain it to me - if you can - how can a teenager child, be in love with an older man, how can a brutalized mom support her child's development, regardless of social and or/religious orientation.
A family should be family - everywhere.
Who does not understand that should not be blessed with the joy of having one.
.... my oppinion.
LOVECOFFM
5:08 AM ET
June 18, 2011
The Young and the Betrothed
The strange world of Afghan weddings and the dark side of early marriage. Is it common for all of these women to be photographed so openly? Who is the photographer? A Woman? Native Afghan? Is the practice of marrying extremely young women only a pashtun tradition? Why do none of the Hazaras pictured wear hijabs? The imagery is vivid but some supplemental information besides the pablum offered above would have been nice jail records Your point would be valid if Joseph and Mary were having secks, but the purpose of their union was so Jesus would have a legitimate mother. Pinning part of the blame on Jewish history (after all, Jesus was Jewish!) makes no sense. This article is talking about modern Afghanistan, not what may or may not have happened 2,000 years ago..
EDIE OLSEN
11:22 AM ET
June 21, 2011
It's not the poverty thing;
It's not the poverty thing; it's the religious thing. This practice is purely an Islamic tradition after the pattern established by the Prophet Mohammed. We should stop trying to placate our distaste with this practice by legitimizing it through a pandering kind of tolerance. This is a barbaric tradition sázkové kanceláre and is absolutely brutal to girls and young women in the Middle East. I agree that it's unlikely to change any time soon. But, to blame it on poverty is just a simplistic excuse to blindly tolerate the real cause which is Islam in it's oldest and purest form.I mean come on, it's bad enough being thrown into marriage without even loving the person or barely knowing them, and not even getting to choose who you marry. And then they are going to do this to young girls, some as young as 10? How disgusting and embarrassing.You know the United States is known worldwide brands as a country that dictates everything that goes on in the world. They especially like to dictate stuff like wars and who is holding sázkové kanceláre weapons of mass destruction, nukes, and other things. Then there's this one, from the caption to a photo of a girl (bride? daughter of beauty parlor owner? little sister of bride-to-be? are we supposed to assume that she's a bride?) outside a beauty parlor:"Behind drawn curtains, isolated from men, Afghan women spend hours getting ready for engagement parties and weddings."The strange world of Afghan weddings indeed! Women in *normal* countries never do that.The child bride problem is pervasive, horrifying, and tragic. But lumping sázkové kanceláre it together with images that represent, as far as I can tell, non-awful, non-horrible weddings is confusing. Not all Afghans have tragic, exotic behaviors you know. Some of them have like, normal people weddings.