Gandhi Speech
Essay by livefreeordie • December 20, 2012 • Essay • 716 Words (3 Pages) • 1,496 Views
An important issue in the world that I feel should be addressed is child marriage. young girls are forced to marry strangers that are as old as in their forties and forced to submit to them. Children, or anyone for that matter, should not be forced into marriages; it is both unethical and immoral. The first step to solving this problem is to raise awareness about it, and to gather people to provide help and care to these young girls, which is why I am addressing you all.
Marrying children against their will is not only a violation of a human right, but it also leads to the violation of other human rights. The problem is that it is legal in many countries. Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that marriage should only be entered with full consent of the two getting married. Many girls who are forced into marriages are forbidden by their husbands to go to school and get an education, are forced to cooperate sexually, and are often beaten by their husbands. Such cases have been documented in many countries, especially in India and its surrounding countries, and in the Middle East. A girl named Faiza Ahmed from Bangladesh was brave enough to step forward and share her heartbreaking experience of what happened during her marriage that she was forced into. Her father forced her to get married when she was young to a man she had never met before, but she doesn't remember how old she was when this happened. She doesn't even know how old she is now. Everyone should know basic information about themselves, especially their birthday. I think this comes to show how badly girls are treated in some parts of the world. Because Faiza's husband was not content with the dowry he received from her family, he took his anger out on her and beat Faiza and poured acid all over her face, eyes, and back, scarring her permanently. I think this is the point when Faiza realized that her life was pretty much over, and that she was entering her own personal hell. She realized that she had no choice but to submit to her husband, and was forced to have sex with him. Faiza had two children before she turned 18. Can you imagine being married right now to someone you barely know and already having a kid? During her second pregnancy, Faiza bled continually. Her mother in law knew that something was wrong, but said and did nothing. They finally took Faiza to the hospital when her symptoms became extreme, where she had to lie on her back for six months of her pregnancy and lost a lot of blood. The doctor told her this happened because she married early. Child marriages are not only immoral, but they are dangerous as well. They need to be stopped. Another girl in Afghanistan tried escaping from her marriage by running away. Unfortunately, the government caught her, punished her, and returned her back to her husband, who beat her for trying to escape. This type of inhumane behavior occurs throughout the world in several countries,
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