EARLY MARRIAGES, SOCIAL PROBLEM IN JANJEVA

Early marriages are still present in our country. Traditions and customs in different communities continue to be applied in the same way, without undergoing changes. Early marriage is considered a violation of human rights and gender-based violence.

 

Illustration: Argjira Kukaj

 

Early marriage is defined as the marriage of two persons where one or both parties are under the age of 18 years. However, the phenomenon of early marriages is more often encountered in girls. Common causes of early marriages are estimated to be patriarchal mentality, tradition, religion, social pressure for girls to get married as early as possible, and poverty. For a poor family, the young girl can even be considered an economic burden. And in certain cases, it happens that the family receives a certain monetary value from the marriage of the child.

All this is certainly not fair and brings serious consequences in the lives of girls who get married at a young age. Some of the consequences include domestic violence, including isolation from society and the family, then divorce, unplanned pregnancy, complications during pregnancy, interruption of schooling and difficulties in accessing employment.

In most countries, early marriage is prohibited by law and is considered a violation of human rights. Early marriage is a global problem, according to Plan International, 12 million girls worldwide get married before the age of 18 – one in almost 2 seconds. Plan International also warns that if no work is done in this direction, more than 150 million girls will get married before 2030.

Unfortunately, Kosovo is also a contributing part of this figure. As a phenomenon is quite pronounced in Janjevo, although a small town with over 2 thousand inhabitants. This is more pronounced in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

Women from the Roma community in Janjevo show how in most cases they are forced by the family to get married early, while some of them say that they got married voluntarily.

Faze Garipi, who got married at the age of 16, is against early marriages. She shares the opinion that the ideal age for marriage is when the girl turns 25 years old. Just like Garipi, Hanumshahe Gradina thinks early marriages should be stopped. And she says this because her daughter is one of them.
“My daughter was married at 16 years and ran away from home without our knowledge. I did not want her to marry so young, but she loved her husband. First she had to finish school, not to leave,” says Gradina. “I think that early marriages should be banned, they should go to school, educate themselves and not get married at a young age. I have another girl, they came to ask for her hand but she did not want to get married,” she added.

In Kosovo, statistical data are deficient in this regard. Although the Kosovo Agency of Statistics publishes the list of marriages in the country every year, those under the age of 18 are not complete.

This also happens because young couples wait several years to enroll in the relevant institutions. However, in 2019 the Kosovo Center for Gender Studies has released some data from KAS where it is stated that in that year in the country were registered 49 marriages under the age of 18 years. The real number is greater.

Despite this and the consequences of early marriages, there are those who think that there is nothing wrong with getting married at a young age.

“The sooner, the better,” says Gjylishahe Garipi, who tells that her daughter is 21 years old and she constantly tells her to get married. “The girl has the place at her husband, and she should get married sooner,” she adds.

“My daughter has been married when she was 16 years. You have to go to school first and then get married, while the best age to get married is 20-21 years. I have been married for 15 years voluntarily and I have not regretted it,” says Rashide Gashi.

Habibja (fictitious name, due to privacy) is also newly married, but she regrets it for another reason.
“I have been married at 17 years, I do not regret being married young, I regret not being educated. No more tradition, no more giving you at your husband, unless you want to. With your say. They have been married with mediators before and the bride and groom didn’t see each other before hand, but they would marry if the father decided so. We give advice to our daughters not to marry young, and we want them to go to school and then get married,” says Habibja.

From all this we understand the consequences of early marriages, which stop the dreams of young girls and deprive them of basic rights, including the right to education.

We should not support early marriages at all, we should be educated, we should be independent, we should create a good life for ourselves, and we should not depend on others for income or anything else. There should be as much promotion as possible for human rights and freedoms, especially the rights of children in rural areas. Work needs to be done to raise awareness at all levels of the community including young people, parents, family, and society.

At the same time to promote and work more on promoting the right to education. Girls in particular need societal support and access to programs that provide life skills, education, lifestyle and sexual and reproductive health information, and services such as family planning and maternal life-saving health services.

About the author: Romesa Biliqi, 15 years old from Janjeva, is a high school student.