In Ethiopia, there is a dramatic increase in child marriages in areas affected by drought. Unicef has sounded the alarm: poverty pushes girls to become child brides
In Ethiopia a drama is taking place within a drama: in the areas affected by drought there is a dramatic increase in child marriages. Unicef has sounded the alarm: 600 children do not go to school and desperate parents push girls to become child brides.
On the one hand there is a climate emergency, on the other the social one. In Ethiopia, drought is forcing the population into hunger and poverty. This is how families organize early marriages with wealthy people to take their daughters out of misery.
Girls torn from games, from school, from childhood, often forced into premature pregnancies and abuse by much older husbands. But according to Unicef we are at a point of no return, the worst climate emergency of the last 40 years is currently underway, pushing people to the brink. It hasn't rained for three consecutive seasons, which means hunger, malnutrition and mass displacement in the Horn of Africa.
"Many girls in Ethiopia are forced into early marriages because their parents try to escape misery through their husbands' family gifts and hope that their daughters will be nurtured and protected by richer families," explains Catherine Russell, executive director of the 'Unicef.
In the East Hararghe area, home to 2,7 million people, child marriage cases increased by 51%, from 70 recorded in one semester in 2020-21 to 106 in the same period a year later.
“It was only one of six drought-affected areas in Oromia that saw a sharp rise in child marriages, UNICEF said. In those areas, cases have almost quadrupled: between February and August last year, 672 cases of child marriages were recorded, while from last September to March this year the number jumped to 2.282, according to local government data.
“These people are still desperate: they are afraid of violence, for the safety of the girls, they need resources and they cannot afford to feed them,” Russell said.
According to 2016 demographics, 40% of girls in the East African country get married before the age of 18 and 14% get married before their 15th birthday. Early marriage is a widespread phenomenon on the African continent, but the cry of these little girls remains unheard. In most of the Sub-Saharan African states, one in five is already married, while the others live in fear of the same fate.
Girls who unfortunately have no power of choice, are isolated from society and deprived of a normal childhood. They are often victims of abuse and violence, cut off from family, friends and school. Nothing to do with feelings, freedom, love.
Fonte: Unicef/ The Guardian
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