Pity the girl-brides

Every year, an estimated 14 million girls are forcibly married before they turn 18 . . . that’s something like 39,000 girls everyday!  That was what girls-not-brides panelists told a 13,000-strong Women Deliver 2013 conference in Kuala Lumpur recently. Pictures on video and publications  show  girls ages 8 to 13, were looking so unhappy and confused as they stood beside their mean-looking  husbands, aged 40 to 70. What cruelty, I said as I watched the videos and agreed with  panelists calling for the banning of a cultural practice prevalent in Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

The panelists said much of the practice is allowed by poor parents who believe that marrying their small daughters to elderly men will secure their future. I volunteered to say that in the Philippines, the present-day practice is human trafficking, i.e. parents selling their children to pedophiles  to earn money.

It’s gratifying to note that anti-trafficking laws and movements are strongly calling for the banning of girl marriage and body selling. The impact of girl marriages on maternal mortality is enormous, to say the least.

According to a panelist at Women Deliver, the prevalence of child marriage and its impact on fertility in India suggests that just a 10 percent drop in child marriage could lead to a 70 percent drop in maternal mortality. In developing countries, she said, the leading cause of death for girls 15 to 19 years old is complications from pregnancy and childbirth. “This situation of ‘bonded labor,’ as it’s sometimes decried, also contributes to high morbidity rates, lower literacy rates, and harmful social norms where girls continue to be under-valued.

Anti-child marriage proponents said that girls who give birth before the age of 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties. Child brides are vulnerable to obstetric fistula, a preventable yet debilitating injury resulting from obstructed labor or prolonged childbirth; 65% of all cases of obstetric fistula occur in girls under the age of 18.

Other data presented: Child brides are under intense social pressure from their husbands’ families to have children soon after marriage; they have little power to plan whether, when or how many children they want to have.

What a pity that a ten-year-old girl can only watch from her window her unmarried friends  walking to school, then playing and frolicking in the sun, while she has to  stay home to attend to the physical and sexual needs of her  husband — who is her grandfather’s age. She’s one of many girls who  wish they were dead.

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On Sept. 4, 2010, at 4:35 in the morning, the Canterbury region of New Zealand was struck by a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The powerful quake caused widespread damage, especially in Christchurch City, including power outages, interruption of the  water supply, collapsed buildings and damaged homes and several schools. A number of people were injured, but no deaths took place. However,  five months later, on Feb. 22, 2011, at 12:51 p.m., a second violent 6.3 magnitude quake struck Christchurch, causing the deaths of 185 people.

The two earthquakes in close succession have forever changed the face of Christchurch city. The stigma caused on families who lost loved ones and properties, remains not totally healed,  although New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Reuben Levermore,  told an audience last weekend that rebuilding the city has been taking  place.

But what about the children?  How did they feel about the disaster? Children’s voices are likely to be unheard, although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says every child has a right to a voice on matters that affect them and have their views taken into account.

Responding to the challenge, in  September last year, UNICEF New Zealand undertook a project to give children in Christchurch a voice on how the earthquake has affected people’s  and their communities. Hundreds of children responded to the invitation; 24 of them were given grants to participate in two full days of photography workshops.

Christ’s College hosted the workshops in one of their IT labs, and professional photographer and IT educator Stuart Hale was contracted by UNICEF to run the workshops, including taking quality digital photographs, how to compose a shot, and communicate a specific message or idea through a photograph. Each child was supplied with a Canon Powershot A2300 digital camera to use for the project and to keep upon its completion. UNESCO Rotary New Zealand and Canon partnered with UNICEF NZ in the project.

Ambassador Levermore invited the exhibition to be held in Manila; it is on view at the museum of the Yuchengco RCBC building on Ayala-Gil Puyat avenues, Makati.  The participating junior photographers are from ages 8 to 14, said Jacqui Southey, education for development officer of UNICEF New Zealand.

The photographs are skillfully and expressively done, showing the effects of the earthquakes on people and the community.  That’s why the exhibition title, “See Through My Eyes.” One  photo shows  a long crack on a road where once a photographer rode a bike to school; others of damaged homes, of cut off plumbing. But there is a feeling of the resilient spirit of the youngsters, through clear nature landscapes.  The expressions of the photographs carried Ambassador Levermore’s message that child victims of disasters in other places learn to cope with trauma and get on with their lives.

Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Philippines Representative, said countries which are on the “Pacific Ring of Fire” — such as the Philippines, New Zealand or Japan —  â€œshare the same challenges in terms of very high susceptibility to major disasters. For us, the occurrence of disasters is not a matter of “If” and ”When,” so there is all the more reason why disaster awareness and  preparedness is so crucial.” Hozumi felt it so strongly, he said, whose own  family in Fukushima was affected by the Great Northeastern Japan Earthquake in March 2011—about 20 days after the Christchurch earthquake.

The exhibition is open to the public daily.

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The good news is that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) recently  turned over a total of over P1.4 billion  cash dividends to the national coffers. The amount, plus the P5.7 billion making up the national government’s 50 per cent share from PAGCOR’s total income from December 2012 to April 2013, brings the agency’s total remittances to the National treasury to over P7 billion.

The better news is that PAGCOR is  particularly conscious of children’s welfare. Thus its feeding program costing P40 million  at the close of school year 2012-2013 has benefited almost 10,000 undernourished and severely wasted school children from 186 public schools nationwide.  â€œFor the coming school year we plan to increase this to about P45 million so that we can have more beneficiaries,” PAGCOR chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr. said. PAGCOR  has also supported the “Kasibulan” grassroots football program, which aims to develop Filipino football talents aged six to 12, with a P20-million funding. “We’re not surprised that Kasibulan immediately made an impact on the lives of the children,” Naguiat said. “This project is a collaborative effort among PAGCOR, the  Armed Forces of the Philippines and the football coaches. “

What’s more, PAGCOR, with the Department of Education, have constructed  210 classrooms in 42 schools all over the country. At least 11,000 students from government-subsidized schools are benefiting from new school buildings funded by the state gaming company.

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 My email:domintorrevillas2gmail.comjj