Several girls who were forced into marriage at a young age and without their consent describe the hardships they have faced since beginning married life. They say that when they married, they had no understanding of the responsibilities of shared life, housekeeping, family relationships, and the demands of married life, and that this sudden entry into a new stage has made their days difficult. According to these women, after the Taliban banned education for girls above the sixth grade, some families forced girls who had been cut off from schooling into marriage. Meanwhile, obstetricians and gynecologists say that adolescent girls may not yet be fully prepared for pregnancy and childbirth in terms of physical and skeletal development. They warn that pregnancy at a young age can increase the risk of certain health complications for both mother and baby.
Zahra (pseudonym), who was forced to marry at the age of 16, says she was in the eighth grade when the doors of schools were closed. According to her, her family married her off in the autumn of that same year to a man she did not know at all. The man who is now her husband was 27 at the time. She says: “My husband had another wife before, whom he had divorced. The next year, when I turned 16, my wedding took place. When I got married, I understood nothing about weddings, family life, ties and relationships.” According to Zahra, she became pregnant in the first year of her marriage, but her baby was born abnormally and died after three days.
Zahra adds: “The doctors said my womb is small. I became pregnant a second time, and that pregnancy was lost too. My husband is a good person, and I have a good life, but now that we have grown up, I tell myself I wish I had not married. I wish I had studied, grown into a young woman, and then made the decision to marry.”
Zainab (pseudonym), who married at the age of 15, says she was in the seventh grade when the Taliban came. According to her, her family was hopeful that schools would reopen, but after a year passed and schools remained closed, her family engaged her to a 26-year-old man. She says she stayed engaged for one year and married the following year, when she was 15.
Zainab says: “Because I was young, I understood nothing. Whatever my mother-in-law and my sisters-in-law said, I did as they told me. Until they turned me into a servant. They sit all day themselves and I do all the work. I have two children too, and I work day and night like a machine. I wash clothes, prepare bread, and take care of the children. It is very hard for me.”
She adds: “If it were up to me, I would not have married and put myself into this much trouble. My mother-in-law says: What would you have done? There was no school anyway. Take up your housekeeping.”
Meanwhile, Khadija Misbah, an obstetrician and gynecologist, says the bodies of adolescent girls may not yet be fully prepared for pregnancy and childbirth in terms of physical and skeletal development, and that pregnancy at this age increases the risk of certain complications for the mother and baby.
The obstetrician and gynecologist says: “Nutritional needs increase during pregnancy, and inadequate nutrition can increase the risk of anemia in young girls. Likewise, in girls whose pelvis has not yet fully developed, the risk of difficult delivery and certain injuries during childbirth increases.”
Misbah adds: “Early marriage and pregnancy can bring social consequences such as the end of education and limited opportunities for advancement and economic independence. Likewise, multiple pregnancies with short intervals can increase the risk of anemia and complications for the mother and child.”
Some time ago, several citizens of the country said that under Taliban rule, with the continuation of poverty and hunger, cases of forced marriage have also increased. According to them, in addition to economic problems, in some areas underage girls are forced into marriage without their consent to end family feuds and disputes.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
ازدواج زودهنگام؛ بهایی که دختران برای بازماندن از مکتب میپردازند
