Friday, June 2, 2017

Germany Bans Child Marriage--But Will It Make a Difference?

The German parliament has passed a law prohibiting the practice.

Will it make a difference?

Probably not (my bolds):
The record number of more than one million refugees who have come to Germany over the past two years raised the concern of child marriages amid reports of hundreds of children arriving as refugees in Germany, already married to adults. 
International NGO SOS Children's Villages warned last May that ever more refugee children are forced to marry against their will. The group said that there has been an increase in particular among girls from war-torn Syria. 
One of the reasons is that families want to both financially and physically secure their daughters. But the consequences can be devastating: girls often not only drop out of school and are socially isolated, but they also are frequently victims of domestic and sexual abuse by their much older husbands, according to the NGO.
In other words, if they arrive in Germany already married to their much older husbands, there's nothing to be done.

No comments: