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Is nine years old too young for marriage?
Filed under: Tweens, Teens, Health & Safety: Babies, Sex
Nine years old is a good age to play jump-rope, dress up dolls, and maybe, just maybe, start thinking about boys as something other than totally gross. Wedding plans should be strictly the fairytales and pumpkin kind and definitely not the actual type. Unfortunately, there are those who think that nine is the perfect age for a young girl to get married.
In Britain, thousands of young girls, as young as nine, are being forced into marriages and schools are being asked to be ever more vigilant for children at risk and who suddenly stop showing up. "The youngest child we have dealt with was nine years old," said Jasvinder Sanghera, director of Karma Nirvana, a national telephone helpline for girls forced into marriage. "The girl told her teacher she was going to be forced to marry someone and initially she was not believed." Thankfully, the girl was eventually placed into foster care.
The problem is bad enough that the government operates a Forced Marriage Unit, jointly funded by the Home Office and Foreign Office. I don't know what kind of parent thinks its okay for a nine-year-old to get married. I have a thirteen-year-old niece and there's no way I would want her to miss out on her life just to satisfy some dirty old man's need to marry.
In Britain, thousands of young girls, as young as nine, are being forced into marriages and schools are being asked to be ever more vigilant for children at risk and who suddenly stop showing up. "The youngest child we have dealt with was nine years old," said Jasvinder Sanghera, director of Karma Nirvana, a national telephone helpline for girls forced into marriage. "The girl told her teacher she was going to be forced to marry someone and initially she was not believed." Thankfully, the girl was eventually placed into foster care.
The problem is bad enough that the government operates a Forced Marriage Unit, jointly funded by the Home Office and Foreign Office. I don't know what kind of parent thinks its okay for a nine-year-old to get married. I have a thirteen-year-old niece and there's no way I would want her to miss out on her life just to satisfy some dirty old man's need to marry.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
10-06-2008 @ 10:17PM
nia said...Damn right that's too young! This is very troubling!
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