Human Rights Watch urges action on International Women’s Day today The government of South Sudan should increase efforts to protect girls from child marriage, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today, on the eve of International Women’s Day. The country’s widespread child marriage exacerbates South Sudan’s pronouncedgender gaps in school enrollment, contributes to soaring maternal mortality rates, and violates the right of girls to be free from violence, and to marry only when they are able and willing to give their free consent.
According to government statistics, close to half (48 percent) of South Sudanese girls between 15 and 19 are married, with some marrying as young as age 12.
The 95-page report, “‘This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him:’ Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan,” documents the consequences of child marriage, the near total lack of protection for victims who try to resist marriage or leave abusive marriages, and the many obstacles they face in accessing mechanisms of redress. It is based on interviews with 87 girls and women in Central Equatoria, Western Equatoria, and Jonglei states, as well as with government officials, traditional leaders, health care workers, legal and women’s rights experts, teachers, prison officials, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations, and donor organizations.
“Girls who have the courage to refuse early marriages are in dire need of protection, support, and education,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The South Sudan government must make sure that there is a coordinated government response to cases of child marriage and more training for police and prosecutors on the right of girls to protection.”
Girls told Human Rights Watch of being pressured to marry by family members anxious to receive dowry payments, or because they were suspected of pre-marital sex. One girl, Ageer M. told Human Rights Watch, “I refused him but they beat me badly and took me by force to him. The man forced me to have sex with him so I had to stay there.” Few girls in South Sudan know they have the right to seek help, while girls who try to resist early and forced marriages suffer brutal consequences at the hands of their families – including verbal abuse and physical assault, and sometimes even murder.
The Human Rights Watch report tells the story of a 17-year-old girl studying in Lakes State whose father tried to force her to marry an old man who had offered a dowry of 200 cows to her family. The girl refused and said, “I don’t know this man. I have never spoken to him, and he is not my age.” The girl was taken to a nearby forest, tied to a tree and beaten until she died.
The report recommends that the government clearly set 18 as the minimum age for marriage; ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRC), and other human rights treaties; and pass comprehensive family legislation on marriage, separation, and divorce.
Child marriage disrupts or ends a girl’s education, increases her risk of violence and abuse, and jeopardizes her health. Failure to combat child marriage is also likely to have serious implications for the future development of South Sudan, Human Rights Watch said. It constrains the education, health, security, and economic progress of women and girls, their families, and their communities.
“Child marriage frequently interrupts girls’ education – or deprives them of it altogether,” Gerntholtz said.
Girls and women interviewed said that dreams of continuing school to become accountants, teachers, or doctors were cut short when they married. Those who dropped out of school found it difficult to continue after marriage or becoming pregnant.
Government statistics for 2011 show that only 39 percent of primary school students and 30 percent of secondary students are female.