In America, we are lucky enough to believe that marriage
should be the mutual joining of two people who are in love and value one another
spiritually and emotionally. Young girls in countries, such as Afghanistan,
Ethiopia, and Yemen, do not experience that right. Too Young to Wed would like to fix this inhumane issue. Men, no
younger than 23, are marrying children as young as six years old. They are then
consummating their marriage with these girls as well, creating mothers as young
as nine years of age.
Too Young to Wed is a persuasive
campaign that uses images as well as narratives to bring light to child
marriage and end the practice through law. According to UNICEF, child marriage
is the formal marriage or informal union before age 18 and 57% of girls in
Afghanistan are affected by forced marriage before the age of 19.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is an advocate for Too Young to Wed believes “child marriage is a violation of human rights. Fashion photographer Nigel Barker and actress Victoria Justice have petitioned the Obama Administration to focus efforts on ending child marriage as well.
Many, in our society, question how child marriage can still be an existing practice in the 21st century. However, in many underprivileged communities that do not receive the education we do, child marriage is seen as a moral practice. According to girlsnotbrides.org, “Child marriage is a traditional practice that in many places happens simply because it has happened for generations – and straying from tradition could mean exclusion from the community.” And, in many of these same places, girls are not valued as much as boys. Girls are actually seen as a burden. Giving away a daughter through marriage allows parents in poverty one less person to feed. In some cases, a dowry is required for the bride, and many poor families welcome this extra income.
Too Young to Wed uses these facts as well as documented images of girls who have already been married and have become mothers at young ages to affect the public. Roshan of Afghanistan is featured on Too Young to Wed’s website. She was married when she was eight to a 55 year old man. Her mother sold her because she didn’t have enough food to feed the rest of her family. The public is targeted by these images and stories and by the exhibitions Too Young to Wed holds throughout the world in countries such as Lebanon, Indonesia, and Jordan.
However, tradition and poverty are preventing the end of child marriage. Men who rely on young, uneducated women to take care of duties at home are exposing themselves to the media to show the women’s vital importance to their communities. However, the images they present depict girls who are 12 and 14 mothers multiple children. Asla in Yemen is highlighted on Too Young to Wed’s sit as a 14 year old girl washing a newborn while her two year old daughter plays in the corner of the image. The United Nations Population Fund also found that social norms are preventing the traditions from changing child marriage. The UNPF says, “Often when child brides are married off to older men, it is to restore or maintain family honor or to settle a father’s debts or to obtain some other financial gain.”
October 11, 2012 marked the first International Day of the Girl Child and was also the launch date of Too Young to Wed. The photo exhibited at the United Nations moved the UN to pledge to stop child marriage through this campaign. However, Stephanie Sinclair (Founder of Too Young to Wed) spurred the campaign on with her photo journal series of women and girls in Afghanistan who set themselves on fire. Sinclair found one common factor that linked at the victims - they were all forced into marriages at young ages.
The difference between Too Young to Wed and others existing previous campaigns that act to stop child marriage is that Too Young to Wed is actively involved with their subjects and their "consumers." Too Young to Wed has a traveling exhibit that tells the story of the girls who were forced into marriage. The wives and mothers will speak out against the act to the consumers of the message as well. Previous campaigns have only reported the women's stories. They never actually made it a reality for the audience (listeners). Too Young to Wed also supports the women already forced into a marriage by counseling services and supports the women who have escaped child marriage by giving them work.
The more that people speak out, the more Too Young to Wed believes opinions in communities can change the norm of child marriage. The persuasive campaign focuses on displaying these exhibits within impoverished countries that rely on child marriage and educate women and families to realize that there are other options to the problems of poverty and tradition. The end goal, ultimately, is to create change in the views of the societies practicing child marriage and ending the practice for good.
Sources:
Girls Not Brides (2015). Retrieved from http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/why-does-it-happen/
The Associated Press (2014, Jan. 8). Laws fail to stop child marriage retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/19/rights-group-lawfailingtoprotectchildbrides.html
Too Young to Wed (2015). Retrieved from http://tooyoungtowed.org/#/takeaction
