Rights and health activists say that such marriages increase the maternal
mortality rate and deny young women an education or any kind of independent
life. Often, after a child marriage, husbands and/or parents-in-law refuse to
allow the child-wife to go to school under threat of violence.
"Badakhshan [northeastern province] has the highest maternal mortality rate in
the country and one of the main reason is under-age marriages - even as young
as seven in some cases. This needs to be addressed," Paul Greening a project
officer of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Wednesday in
Kabul.
Afghan minister of women's affairs Masouda Jalal, called early marriage "a
violation of equality" and condemned the traditional practice as harmful to
girl's health, their education, political participation and economic
opportunities.
"Child marriage and early childbearing mean an incomplete education, limited
opportunities and serious health risks," Jalal said.
Child brides are not physically mature and can sustain injury during sexual
intercourse.
"It is a shame to say that even in the capital Kabul we treat pregnant mothers
as young as 12 years of age," said a midwife at Malalai hospital, the leading
maternity and gynaecology unit in the capital.
Afghanistan's new constitution sets the minimum age of marriage for females at
16 and for males 18 but in rural and even some urban areas, the tradition of
marrying off daughters while even younger in order to receive money remains
common among the poor.
A recent study by Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has found
500 girls who had been given away or traded as part of local conflict
resolution practices. Of these, 90 percent were under 14 years old. Most become
the 'property' of the family or individual who receives them.
