The Chicago Tribune this week examined child marriage and the "brutal" effects it has on girls worldwide. Child marriage -- which affects about 51 million girls in developing countries worldwide -- puts women at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS or developing health complications from becoming pregnant at an early age. Girls who are married at a young age and become pregnant before their bodies are prepared to undergo pregnancy and childbirth may experience obstetric fistula -- a condition caused by ruptured tissue in the birth canal that can lead to continuous and uncontrollable leakage of feces and urine -- and be shunned by their families and communities. Child marriage also can put young women at risk of contracting HIV. Girls often are married to older men, and the unequal balance of power makes young women less able to negotiate the use of condoms to protect against infection. Child marriage -- which is common in India, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa -- also has negative and lasting consequences for women's health, education and overall economic development (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 12/9). Several articles in the Tribune's series, titled "From Child to Bride," are summarized below:

• "The bride was 7: In the heart of Ethiopia, child marriage takes a brutal toll": Child marriage -- an "ancient, entrenched practice long hidden in shadow" -- often has been overlooked as a human rights issue, according to the Tribune. However, young girls who are married at an early age "represent a vast, lost generation of children," the Tribune reports. The "most far-reaching injustice" of child marriage is that girls are pulled out of school, "condemn[ing]" them to "lives of ignorance and dire poverty from which they rarely escape," according to the Tribune (Salopek [1], Chicago Tribune, 12/12). The complete article is available online.
  
  
• "Early marriage survives in the U.S.": Although fewer than 2% of U.S. pregnancies involve married girls under age 18, the "antique practice" of child marriage continues in the United States and has negative effects for girls, according to the Tribune. Although U.S. girls usually are not forced into marriage at a young age, those who do get married before age 18 tend to be older than their Asian and African counterparts and do not face the same pregnancy-related injuries as girls in developing countries, they do "face their own problems," according to the Tribune. Young brides in the United States have increased rates of chronic anemia and obesity, usually drop out of school, have higher rates of failed marriage and experience more domestic violence, compared with U.S. women who marry later (Salopek [2], Chicago Tribune, 12/12). The complete article is available online.
  
  
• "Delaying marriage gets passing grade: In rural Egypt, special program empowers girls to be students before brides": A "web of programs" started in 2001 in Daquf, Egypt, are being studied as a potential model for the rest of the country to "ensure that childhood doesn't end in forced marriage," the Tribune reports. The programs -- based in literacy, sports, life skills and family lectures -- aim to delay marriage in order to keep young girls in school and safeguard their health. Families and communities must be supportive in order for the girls to remain in school and unmarried because "powerful religious, cultural and economic forces" can "overwhelm" government and individual girls' efforts to help them receive a complete education before marriage, according to the Tribune. One new program that has the community's consent -- called "Safe Spaces for Girls to Learn, Play and Grow" -- seeks to educate as many as 200 girls in the countryside with two and a half years of intensive study, as well as engage them in sports to build friendship and self-esteem (Spolar [1], Chicago Tribune, 12/13). The complete article is available online.
  
  
• "U.S. froze funds that could aid victims": The Bush administration's withholding of $34 million from the United Nations Population Fund has "repercussions in the battle to fight and treat the ravages of child marriage," according to the Tribune. The frozen funds have "sapped" the efforts of UNFPA -- a "major player in the battle to suppress child marriage" -- in maternal health areas, including treatment for obstetric fistula (Spolar [2], Chicago Tribune, 12/13). The complete article is available online.