In Niger, child marriage on rise due to hunger

[doggie]

this is so sad sell your daughter for the money she brings in and not to have to feed her. while it perpetuates the whole thing.

This what fundies don't realize what what a lot of marriages were about in biblical times.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268743/conten ... d=iBpTxZFd

[debrand]

In Hawkantaki, it is the rhythm of the land that shapes the cycle of life, including the time of marriage. The size of the harvest determines not only if a father can feed his family, but also if he can afford to keep his daughter under his roof

That is so very sad. Most of the families have lost children to starvation and are desperate for money to feed the others.

The next day, Zali's mother walked into the barren fields that radiate outward from the village. She found the kalgo tree.

All over Niger when the millet runs out, desperate families are reduced to boiling its leaves for food. Her mother went to collect the leaves for a different reason, because they are also known for their anti-inflammatory properties, and are prescribed for new brides.

Zali's mother boiled them and prepared compresses to soothe her daughter's crotch.

So many mothers went to pick the leaves this spring that hardly any were left on the denuded branches of the tree

:( :cry:

[doggie]

it is bad and the early marriage will just make it worse.

[ILoveJellybeans]

That is so sad :(

[wallfly]

We were informed by World Vision that the girl we had been sponsoring for 4 years was married now and no longer eligible for sponsorship. She was 15 and from Nigeria. It wasn't a happy letter from WV either as these early marriages just let the cycle of poverty continue.

[bananacat]

We sort of do see this though in fundieland, although not as extreme. The rich Patriarchs hold onto their trophy daughters while essentially buying poorer girls for their sons to marry. Duggars, Botkins, Maxwells, all of these families have shown that selling off your trophies is strictly for poorer families. I don't know if all the daughers-in-law came from very poor families, but at least not as rich as the head Patriarchs.

[YPestis]

It's standard practice for girls to try to to 'marry up', whether it's starving Niger girls or poor fundie girls or even your average American gal in the 1950's who try to snatch a lawyer. Patriarchy reinforces the need for girls to marry well as it denies women themselves the opportunity to be financially independent. The Niger situation is sad but not unusual for people living in grinding third world poverty. Women in this country have no reason to sacrifice martial bliss or a career to 'marry well' but fundies actively recreate the situations which forces young girls to do just that. I wish fundies could realize that the very lifestyle they advocate will create situations such as those still in existence in third world countries. Girls have no means to help their families except to marry into a wealthier families. They marry young, unable to acquire an education and suffer through multiple pregnancies. There's nothing good here that comes out of disempowering women.

[DarkAnts]

This makes me sad. This is what happens when young girls marry and give birth. Their bodies are not ready to have babies even if they are menstruating.

3w-fOmovijc