Forced Marriages
Human beings however tend to behave irrationally and follow their own ideas disrespecting some of these ethics. They tend to follow their gut feeling and ignore what their mind is telling them or what is designed as moral and upright. For most of these ethical issues there is no single right answer that can be used to solve the issues. Some of the answers are better off than others but they still do not eliminate the other worse answers. Individuals sometimes prefer the worse answers and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to take responsibility for the choices they make together with their actions.
One of the ethical issues that has brought a lot of controversy and there is no direct answer that is available to solve the issues, is the issue of forced marriages (BBC, n.d). Some people still believe that this is wrong while others believe that it is right for them to force marriages. Forced marriages are marriages that occur without the consent of the participants. The two are coerced into the union either through black mail, threats or abuses. They are different from arranged marriages since in arranged marriages the two participants are well aware of the marriage and they have consented and are willing to participate in the union. Forced marriages have been happening all over the world and some are justified on the religious grounds or the cultures. This paper discusses forced marriages as a real contemporary ethical problem, justifying the case against them giving measures that can be used to counteract the injustice.
The Case of Forced Marriages
The issue of forced marriages is being experienced all over the world and in most of the countries. It is no longer an issue that is tied to the uncivilized but is also found within the civilized countries. There have been cases of forced marriages that are being reported from African countries and other countries like in the U.K and the U.S. They are being reported by males and females and by people of all ages between 15 and 40. Majority of the cases are experienced by children under the age of 18. In the U.K the Forced Marriage Unit received reports of over 1063 possible forced marriages in 2008. This was an increase of 25 of the number of cases that were reported in the same year. Women and girls were the majority victims having 85 (BBC, n.d). Not all the cases are usually reported so the real number of the cases is still unclear. The numbers is also increasing as by January 2009 the number of reports to the Forced Marriage Unit had increased by 16 since 2008 (Casciani, 2009). The Forced Marriage Unit is an organization that has been established to give advice and support cases of forced marriages in the U.K as a joint initiative with the home office (Foreign Commonwealth Office, n.d).
In Africa, the situation is worse, with cases of forced marriages being reported in most of the countries. Some of these countries include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic (Bentheim, n.d). The statistics are also very grim as 50 of the girls under the age of 18 are forced into marriage. This is also the same case in Asia where 30 of the girls are married off by the time they reach 18. Forced marriages may seem like a thing of the past but they continue to happen in most of countries and have come to affect people of both sexes whether male or female. They are also targeting other age groups not only those of children under the age of 18 (Bentheim, n.d).
A good example of a forced marriage case is that of Humayra Abedin, a 32 year old doctor who was being forced into marriage in 2008 by her parents in Bangladesh (Taylor, 2008). The parents forced her to marry a family friend and detained her for four months and gave her sedatives to keep her docile. They also proceeded to admit her to a psychiatric ward where the forced medication was continued. According to reports the police and other doctors were involved in the process as the parents tried to make her quit her job and marry Dr. Khondokar Mohammad Abdul Jalal whose marriage request she had turned down. She was however assisted by a human activist group who helped her get released by getting a court order. She was able to get back her travel documents and air ticket and fly back to Britain where she annulled the marriage (BBC News, 2008).
Motivations to Forced Marriages
Traditions
There are various reasons that are given by the society for the forced marriages. In some, traditions are cited as one of the reasons that encourage the practice. Despite the dire and harmful consequences the members of these communities continue to exercise the practice. They cite one of the reasons for the traditions to exist as maintaining the honor of the families by preserving the virginity of the girls. They also prevent immorality amongst the girls by forcing them to marry. Marrying the girls off to their future husbands ensures that the girls do not engage in premarital sex and hence the honor of their families is maintained (The Advocates, 2007).
Poverty
It is a contributing factor that leads to the problem of forced marriages in most of the third world countries. The girls are seen as a resource by their parents to attain great wealth and reduce their poverty levels and their financial burdens. The girls are used to settle debts and obtain goods by their families and relatives. The bride price that is used to get her to marry is set on her labor and fertility that she will be able to provide for her husband. The parents therefore choose to marry her off at an early age as the young girl is viewed as a financial burden when she grows older.
Control
In the modern society forced marriages are viewed as a way in which the men can control the women and the young girls. By marrying them off a young age and doing it forcefully ensures that the men gain and maintain control the women. Early marriages lead to early pregnancies and they are a sure way for the men in these communities to ensure they have control of the girls at a young age and their reproductive health. The women are seen as inferior to the men and the communities ensure that the women remain in that position by controlling them through this practice.
Consequences of forced marriages
Gender Inequality
One of the consequences that are also a cause of the forced marriages especially for the children under 18 years is gender inequality. The value of the women in these societies that exercise the practice is undermined and the women are not allowed to exercise their rights. The men therefore justify the right to make personal decisions for the girls and their women. The girls grow up without a voice and when they are married their husbands make their decisions for them. The women have little or no social power and very little income (Sen, Germain, Chen, 1994).
Careers cut short
Most of these forced marriages that are held normally lead to the women cutting short their careers as they are ordered by their parents or their husbands to do and they end up becoming housewives. The young girls discontinue their paths to careers at an early age while still in school and they never get to reach other higher levels of education. In Uganda however the LRA commanders prefer captive wives who are educated. In other communities and other countries the girls are not allowed to continue with their education as the education is seen to be in vain since their husbands and their families will not allow them to get into any careers.
Health Complications during Pregnancy
Most of these girls are married off at a very young age before their bodies have developed fully their reproductive organs have not matured. Once they get pregnant at this young age, they end up developing complications during the pregnancy and also during child birth (Bentheim, n.d). The girls who are mostly found in the third world countries suffer from malnutrition due to poverty and this contributes to stunted growth especially to the pelvic bones which leads to obstructed delivery. The women and girls are also not able to get access to good prenatal and medical care which could help reduce the risk of complications and the mortality rate since their movement of is limited. Most of these women and the girls end up loosing their lives during their pregnancies as they are not able to speak up and ask for help.
HIV and AIDS
Besides the pregnancy related complications, the health of the women and the young girls is put at a risk of contracting HIV and AIDS and other venereal diseases (U.S Department of State, 2007). This is mostly the case for the girls and the women in the third world countries. They are not able to negotiate for safe sex with their husbands due to their economic and the social status. Their husbands in most cases are polygamists and they may therefore be already infected from other sexual relationships with their many wives. The girls then contract HIV and they end up passing it on to their babies. This increases the burden that these young brides carry.
Domestic Violence
This is one of the other consequences of forced marriage that is mostly experienced in the African countries. There are no specific laws that prohibit this act and other acts such as child and marital rape. The girls and women in these forced marriages are victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse from their husbands. They lack a voice and a power to speak out against the acts that they are experiencing and hence the men take their actions to be justified. Since there are no laws that prohibit these acts the law enforcers disregard and ignore these complaints. Some of these violent acts end up causing physical and mental health to the women putting their lives at risk (U.S Department of State, 2007).
Lack of personal development
Some of the other consequences of the forced marriages especially among the girls involve the interference of the personal development of the girls. They tend to suffer from psychological damage and depression that is caused by the isolation that they are subjected to. The girls do not have the maturity that is psychological and is needed for them to take up responsibilities as wives, sexual partners or mothers. They are therefore unable to reach their full potential as girls and this makes them become depressed (Craven, 2003). The lack of independence to make their own personal decisions also affects them mentally and psychologically.
Measures to Counteract the Injustice
According to the case that I have built on forced marriages as a real contemporary problem that is affecting the world, it is clear that the problem exists and its reasons and consequences are not justifiable and we cannot allow them to continue. The problem is serious and it needs to be addressed. There are various measures that can be used to counteract the injustice and the human rights violations. In my own opinion several measures can be put up to stop the spread and the practice from going on any further.
Building awareness on the negative impacts
Parents and the relatives of the girls should be enlightened on the negative impacts that they are subjecting their girls to when marrying them off at a young age. They should also be made aware of the human rights violations that they are making when not allowing their girls to marry when they want and the right to continue their education. The society should be sensitized on the importance of the children especially the girls, continuing with their education and not being subjected to the practice. This will help change the mental attitude and social attitude that prevails in the society against the rights of women, and their right to marry who they want and when they want to marry. The men should be sensitized to protect the rights of their women and allow the women to speak up and make decisions that affect their personal lives.
Education
The girls and the women should be allowed to continue with their education and advance their careers. Education holds the key for these women and their communities to change their traditions and their view on the womens rights (Bentheim, n.d). Education should be emphasized especially in the African countries and other third world countries to be able to enlighten the people and allow the women to be independent and make their own choices in life. This is justified by the fact that in countries where the education is made compulsory the forced marriages are low.
Establishing a law
In countries where the forced marriage rates are high and yet the society in those countries is enlightened and educated on human rights, there needs to be stern measures. The parents and relatives that choose to have their children get married forcefully, and without their consent should be punished under these laws. In my opinion there should be a law that prohibits the act and places a few years in jail to any one caught forcing another person to marry. This law can include the parents, relatives, officials or any other person that is involved in the process and is aware of what is going on and help in the practice.
Conclusion
Forced marriages are one of the real contemporary problems that we are facing and there is very little that is being done to fight the practice. One of the reasons is because the children are afraid to prosecute their parents and most of the societies that practice the act do not listen to women who are majority of the victims of the practice. Much needs to be done to remove the practice and fight back even though the practice is deeply rooted in the cultures and traditions of the communities that practice it. The mentalities of these people need to be changed for the practice to be a thing of the past.
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