October 11th is the International Day of the Girl Child. In the United States when one hears of child marriages, one thinks of a poor young uneducated girl living in a developing countries living in abject poverty. Her uneducated parents consent for her to marry a man older enough to be her father or grandfather. This essay pulls a curtain back on one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world.
Child marriage is a global, largely a rural phenomenon grounded in poverty. Under those circumstances, it is not unusual for underaged children, particularly girls, to marry. In the United States, parents may give consent for their minor children to be married; the exceptions are the states of Delaware and New Jersey. In Massachusetts, it is possible for children to marry at any age, leaving them vulnerable and trapped in situations that are not in their best interests. In certain states, these children cannot divorce, or otherwise leave their marriages, or flee to a shelters to escape spousal abuse. In the majority of these cases, girls are married to adults. Children who otherwise would be protected by statutory rape laws, are emancipated because marriage serves as a rite of passage into adulthood, but there is a catch. UDHR Article 16 recognizes the individual right to choose whom to marry. The implication here is that these individuals are adults who enjoy the freedom to divorce, enter into contracts, obtain restraining orders, and make other independent decisions. Therein lies the catch: married children do not enjoy these liberties.
The best interests of the child is expressed in human rights covenants and conventions that recognize the family as society’s most fundamental group. It is here where the health and well-being of children are paramount; the nucleus in which children are protected and guided to become fully developed and contributing adults. The Convention on the Rights of the Child identifies individuals under the age of 18 as children, and was drafted to meet their special needs. Article 3 thereof articulates the need for all governments, and private and other institutions to consider as paramount the best interest of children. One might argue that different cultures have various ways of interpreting what this means. The stages in which children develop, however, are universal. Minor children, regardless of country of origin, lack the physical, mental and emotional maturity to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. Yet parents throughout the United States consent to their children entering marriages prematurely; maybe to sexual predators. Why does the United States, and country that helped to draft and has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, only considers their best interest in family court?
The Articles of the UDHR fall under one of two broad covenants. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) covers such rights as freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, fair trial rights, freedom of thought, religion and expression, privacy, home and family life, equality and non-discrimination. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) addresses issues such as the care and protection of dependent children, education, desirable work, adequate living standard, participation in cultural life, and participation in trade unions. The United States ratified the former. Issues concerning the welfare of children fall under the latter.
اسمي جنيس