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In Pakistan, Child Brides Delivered as Peace Offering
June 09, 2008 6:05 PM
Fifteen child brides were used as currency in a trade to end a feud between two tribes.
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London’s Guardian newspaper recently reported that in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, 15 child brides between ages 3 and 10 were recently given to a neighboring tribe to settle a quarrel that began over six years ago. The argument started with the shooting of a trespassing dog and the revenge killing of a donkey. Nineteen human victims later a settlement was reached; fifteen child brides would be given by the Chakrani to the Qalandri, along with payment.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UPNF), “compensation marriages,” known as “swara” in Pakistan and “vani” in other countries, occur when child brides are given away to offset both emotional and financial losses. Child brides are given as peace offerings “for a murder perpetrated by a member of her family, to offset debts, or the settlement of other inter-ethnic or family disputes.”
A UNPF report, titled “Virtual Slavery,” explained that Islamic law forbids a marriage that isn’t agreed upon by both parties. Yet, in the North-West Frontier Province, the village council, or “jirga,” governs the process, and little has been done to stop the custom.
Samar Minallah, a journalist and documentary filmmaker, produced a film on the subject entitled, “Swara: A bridge over Troubled Water.” Minallah also uses music videos, advertisements, research and a weekly television show to raise awareness about child marriages. In 2006, she persuaded the Pakistani government to pass an act that would punish both responsible parties involved in child marriages.
Abdou Bala Marafa, the Emir of Gobir in Niger, has worked in conjunction with UNICEF to prevent the selling of child brides. Bala Marafa said, “We have been ignorant for a very long time. Instead of school we marry our daughters and put them in hell. Please women, be wise, send your daughters to school…”
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UPNF), “compensation marriages,” known as “swara” in Pakistan and “vani” in other countries, occur when child brides are given away to offset both emotional and financial losses. Child brides are given as peace offerings “for a murder perpetrated by a member of her family, to offset debts, or the settlement of other inter-ethnic or family disputes.”
A UNPF report, titled “Virtual Slavery,” explained that Islamic law forbids a marriage that isn’t agreed upon by both parties. Yet, in the North-West Frontier Province, the village council, or “jirga,” governs the process, and little has been done to stop the custom.
Samar Minallah, a journalist and documentary filmmaker, produced a film on the subject entitled, “Swara: A bridge over Troubled Water.” Minallah also uses music videos, advertisements, research and a weekly television show to raise awareness about child marriages. In 2006, she persuaded the Pakistani government to pass an act that would punish both responsible parties involved in child marriages.
Abdou Bala Marafa, the Emir of Gobir in Niger, has worked in conjunction with UNICEF to prevent the selling of child brides. Bala Marafa said, “We have been ignorant for a very long time. Instead of school we marry our daughters and put them in hell. Please women, be wise, send your daughters to school…”
Headline Links: Child brides used as currency
Sherry Rehman, the Information Minister of Pakistan’s new government, said, “We will not allow young girls to be traded like this. The culprits who tried to do this will be arrested. The orders have been given.”
Source: The Guardian
In Afghanistan, as well as in other countries where child marriages are rife, the maternal mortality rates are exceedingly high. Dr. Sayed Mohamed Amin Fatimi, the Afghan Public Health Minister, stated flatly: “Fifty to seventy mothers die every day from birth complications, which is a silent tsunami for Afghanistan.”
Source: United Nations Population Fund (see link to Word document)
In Pakistan, Samar Minallah’s grassroots media campaign focuses on preventing violence against women. Minallah convinced rickshaw owners to protest swara by painting on their vehicles statements such as: “Giving away little girls as compensation is not only inhuman but also un-Islamic.”
Source: Perdita Huston
Reactions: Arrests wouldn’t be enough
Pakistani activist Asma Jahangir isn’t comforted by the promises of arrest, issued by the party of the deceased Benazir Bhutto. She explained, “There is a dysfunction in the whole system ... We need to see them being more effective than just rhetoric.”
Source: The Guardian
Historical Context: Child brides in unlikely places
Child marriages aren’t relegated solely to developing rural areas of Asia and Africa. In October 2004, a court convicted five men from the Pitcairn islands, a British owned colony, of rape and sexual abuse of young girls, including at least one 12-year-old. The defense argued that the child marriages were a cultural custom. A 2006 appeal was overturned.
Source: Pitcairn Island News
In connection with the Pitcairn case, the BBC examined age of consent laws and customs around the world.
Source: The BBC
Background: The continuing cycle of compensation marriages
A 2004 study of child brides by the Raasta Development Consultants in the Tharparkar region of Pakistan called Thakoor women “the cash cows” of their families. The report added, “Since male members of the Thakoor caste do not take up active labour and even avoid moving to the barrage areas for their own livelihood, their families are constrained to put a price tag on their daughters.”
Source: Dawn
Related Stories: The peril of being a child bride
In child marriages, abuse by the new husband and the child’s in-laws is widespread. A year after the release of the Raasta Development Consultants’ study, Rubina Bibi, a 17-year-old bride, died following a meal with her in-laws. Bibi’s in-laws’ poor treatment of her, including forcing her to sleep in a shed for animals, drew suspicion to her death.
Source: Women’s United Nations Report Network
A PBS documentary follows the stories of a number of young brides, including Chukha, a young Indian girl in Rajistan who was sold to her in-laws at the age of 5. At 20 she was taken from her house at night, tied up and beaten so badly that she lost her baby.
Source: PBS (film)
The Emir of Gobir in Niger, Abdou Bala Marafa, (interviewed above) in conjunction with UNICEF, started the Good Conduct Brigade, a group of citizens who spread awareness of the dangers of child marriages and intervened where child brides were being sold. Bala Marafa said, “As the father of the community of Gobir, when I see a girl married too early, who became fistulous? Who can’t contain her urine, who cannot live in the society, who is really marginalized. I don’t have the right to stay seated and let things continue this way."
Source: Raquel Evita Sariswati (blog)
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
