What Made This 12-Year-Old Norwegian Girl 'Marry' A 37-Year-Old Man?
On Saturday, 11 October 2014, 12-year-old Thea 'walked down the aisle' to meet her 37-year-old 'husband to be'. But why?
By Sadho Ram — 12 Oct 2014, 12:44 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
Thea's 'story' shocked many Norwegians. As a result, people in Norway called the police and informed child welfare authorities.
The underage marriage, the first of its kind in the Northern European country, sparked an outcry from the public. In fact, Thea’s wedding blog, in which she documents her story and her views and beliefs of how married life will be, became Norway’s most read blog over the course of one day. Many people immediately contacted child welfare authorities and the police.
mindfood.com
The 'story', however, is not real
It is actually part of a campaign by children's development charity Plan International aimed at raising awareness about the forced marriages of underage girls around the globe.
Plan International, the charity behind the campaign, says:
"We believe that provocation is a powerful tool in order to demonstrate a reality that truly is very provoking. We hope people will mobilize against child marriage by being girl sponsors, so that most of the 39,000 girls facing Thea’s situation every day can escape their brutal fate."
independent.co.ukMabel van Oranje, Board Chair of Girls Not Brides, met with Norwegian NGOs to discuss the serious issue of child marriage
Norwegian NGOs met with Board Chair and Global Coordinator of Girls Not Brides to discuss the important issue of child marriage. From left: Siri Elverland Thematic Adviser Gender and Protection NRC, Phyllis Horea Senior Advisor Plan Norway, Lakshmi Sundaram Global Coordinator for Girls Not Brides, Eric Demers Head of Core Competencies section at NRC, Mabel van Oranje Board Chair of Girls Not Brides, Benedicte Giæver Director of Expert Deployment/NORCAP, Christina Milsom Education Adviser for Strømme Foundation
Image via nrc.no“Our goal is to end child marriage in one generation. If we can keep this generation of girls out of marriage before age 18, we can be pretty sure that they will make sure that their daughters do not marry young either,” she said.
mindfood.com
Child marriage is a traditional practice that denies 14 million girls a year their rights to health, education and protection
Siri Elverland, Eric Demers and Benedicte Giæver from NRC in discussion with Board Chair of Girls Not brides, Mabel van Oranje
Image via nrc.no“Every two seconds, a girl below the age of 18 is married with little if any say in the decision. Child marriage holds girls back and keeps their communities poor,” according to Girls Not Brides.
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Contrary to popular thought, the group says one of the main driving factors behind child marriage is tradition and not religion like many may think. “Child marriage happens in many communities because that is the way things have always been. If a family refuses to give their child away in marriage, they can be considered outcasts among the rest of the society and the chances of finding a future husband for their daughters will decrease sharply. “
mindfood.com
According to Plan International, most child marriages happen in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and in several countries in West Africa and in Bangladesh, two-thirds of girls are married before age 18. It goes on to say:
Child marriage lies at the intersection of a broad set of problems facing girls. The practice violates girls’ human rights, curtails their education, harms their health, and sharply constrains their futures. Girls who marry early are most often deprived of the opportunity to reach their full potential and rise out of poverty.
plan-international.org