In Niger, child marriage on he rise due to hunger.In Niger, the legal age of marriage is 15.
The law, however, only applies for civil ceremonies officiated by the state.
A girl married off is one less mouth to feed, and the dowry money she brings in goes to feed others.
BBC
May 29, 2014
The BBC's Special Correspondent Fergal Keane meets child brides as young as 12 in the remote region
Continue reading the main story
Niger has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, and is struggling to stop the practice, writes the BBC's Fergal Keane.
In the distance it appears like a tiny blur against the bright light of noon. But coming closer, gathering force, the wind creates a moving cloud of sand.
By the time it reaches the Tuareg nomads in the desert north of Agadez it is whipping into faces, stinging every piece of exposed skin.
Quote
Many families have no choice… when a wealthy Nigerian comes offering millions”
They hunker down and turn their backs to the wind and wait for the storm to pass.
.......Amina... Mother of a 15-year-old
They hunker down and turn their backs to the wind and wait for the storm to pass.
.......Amina... Mother of a 15-year-old
Every choice in this landscape is defined by the imperative of survival. For the Tuareg of Niger, life is a constant struggle against the accumulating challenges of hunger and poverty.
They live in a country which ranks lowest on the United Nations human development index - 187 out of 187 - and which has the world's highest birth rate. Niger also has one of the world's highest rates of child marriage.
About 24% of girls will be married by the time they are 15. That rises to nearly 80% by the age of 18. It is a social phenomenon that affects all significant ethnic groups in Niger, including the majority Hausa community.
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Most women in Niger marry when young as there is a fear that unwed teenagers may fall pregnant…..
The main reason is economic.
Hard-pressed families receive a "bride price" in return for their daughter's hand in marriage. A girl married off is also one less mouth to feed.
And there is a deep-rooted fear of unmarried teenaged girls falling pregnant, or as one mother put it: "They can easily become delinquents."
'No room for dreams'
The story of child marriage in Niger is rooted in poverty and the overall position of women in society.
In the northern city of Agadez, we were told of marriages of Tuareg girls to wealthy men from neighbouring Nigeria where thousands of dollars were paid - the price varying according to the girl's beauty.
One mother, Amina, who asked that her full name not be used, has a 15-year-old daughter. She is unemployed and separated from her husband, and described Niger as a place where "there is no room for women to dream dreams". Marriage was her daughter's choice but she herself would welcome a wealthy suitor, she said.
"Many families have no choice… When a wealthy Nigerian comes offering millions in local currency, they will let them marry, even if they are young," Amina added.
For some the consequences of such marriage can be catastrophic.
Aysha, which is not her real name, was married at 13 to a businessman from the northern Nigerian city of Kano. "I didn't think it was about marrying someone I would be happy with," she said, "but I was very young and I didn't have anybody to whom I could go for advice."
Far from her family, Aysha found herself imprisoned in her new husband's home. "He was always trying to make it clear that it was as if he had bought me, that it was not because I wanted him but because he had bought me," she told the BBC.
Aysha recalled that after about 10 days, he came and locked her in the bedroom. "He mistreated me at home… One day he locked me in the bedroom… It is as if he raped me," she said.
The teenager later managed to escape with the help of her brother - and is now 21 and studying to be a nurse.
Lack of education & much more @ .... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27619295
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