Pedophilia Masked By So-Called “Child Marriage” or “Child Bride”

Photo Credit: SitiTalkBlog

The practice of child marriage started centuries ago, and even in more recent times, appears to be getting deep rooted in many societies, including developing countries where it is often masked by child marriage. While the emancipation of women seems to have gained some strides over the past years, sadly, child marriage is one of the social vices that till date exist in the world.

Take the case of Umar sani, a man allegedly murdered on his wedding night by his child bride of 13 years old (Gezawa, outskirts of Kano Northern Nigeria). According to The Guardian News Paper, reports from her lawyer tell us that she was tied to the bed and repeatedly raped by her adult husband on their wedding night. We are not advocating for her retaliation, but insane acts meet insane consequences. The paper also reports about Maimuna Abdulmunini, a 13 year old girl who burned her 35 year old husband to death. These retaliations though surprising are not unexpected. It is clear that the girls who faced sexual violence at the hands of pedophiliac adult “husbands”, saw the acts as aggressive and violent, and felt that they warranted their retaliation. Let’s face it: acts of child marriage are in fact pedophilic acts committed on child brides by their adult “husbands”.

In psychiatry, pedophilia is basically defined as the condition of being sexually attracted to children. Therefore, if you are an adult male who is sexually attracted to a child, attempts to have sex with a child, indulges in sexual activities with a child, or even goes ahead to marry a child, regardless of your religious beliefs, you are suffering from a psychiatric condition called pedophilia. The acts of pedophilia should be recognized as such in all nations of the world and appropriately prosecuted. All nations should make it a point of duty to protect children from any and all sexual predators, and to prosecute such predators, even retroactively, ensuring no statutory limitations to prosecute such acts of violence against children.

Recently, countries like India, The Gambia and Tanzania have enacted laws dealing with child marriage but not eradicating it. Certainly, we hope that parts of the middle east, and other countries in Africa (east, west, north and south) where it is still practiced realize that child marriage is immoral, inappropriate and most importantly, it can be devastating to the lives of children. Additionally it is a psychiatric condition when an adult experiences a sexual attraction towards prepubescent children and it is called pedophilia. This is the eventual outcome of child marriage.

The cultural and religious existence of child marriage in most of our African and Middle Eastern communities causes men to become maniacs. They hardly realize that they are suffering from a psychiatric condition, and thanks to very poor health systems and the stigma associated with psychiatric disorder they wouldn’t subscribe with this factual school of thought.

Legislation alone cannot solve these pedophilic tendencies in adult men in Africa and the Middle East, and the rest of the world. Countries like Nigeria are in blatant denial that many of the men who consider themselves “husbands” to child brides are in fact pedophiliacs in disguise. Sadly, many of such men are in prominent or even premiere positions in Northern Nigeria for example, some of which are a part of the legislature, executive and possibly the judiciary arms of the government. This makes the issue of tackling pedophilia in Nigeria (especially the northern part) even more complicated since it is highly unlikely that the same men will ensure that appropriate legislation are put in place to protect children from sexual predators like themselves.

At the community level, local psychiatrists and health officials need to sensitize communities, religious and political leaders about the pedophilic consequences of child marriage. This would ensure strongly encouraged promotion for a shift away from cultural and religious tolerance of this insane act.

Little girls should be educated and empowered, not traded off to be at the sexual pleasure of an adult man, including a so-called adult pedophiliac “husband”.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/02/nigeria-child-brides-religion

http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/2015/06/child-marriage-in-nigeria-girls-at-risk/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/11/the-tragedy-of-nigerias-child-brides

http://biblehub.com/matthew/18-8.htm

Related SitiTalkBlog Posts:

Nigeria Convenes a technical Working Group to Lead Towards Ending Child Marriage: http://www.sititalkblog.com/#!Nigeria-Convenes-a-technical-Working-Group-to-Lead-Towards-Ending-Child-Marriage/cjds/5785a2f30cf297558e0c450d

Child Marriage and Child Bride in Africa: http://www.sititalkblog.com/#!Child-Marriage-and-Child-Bride-in-Africa/cjds/5784682e0cf2ec747e43cc0a

Africa News Report: Gambian President Jammeh decrees 20-year jail term for any man who marries a girl under 18: http://www.sititalkblog.com/#!Africa-News-Report-Gambian-President-Jammeh-decrees-20year-jail-term-for-any-man-who-marries-a-girl-under-18/cjds/577f347e0cf2a27045f18da5

__________________________

Ernie J. Burgher is a bi-lingual freelance journalist and author, and speaks English and French. Ernie writes for SitiTalkBlog.

Copyright SitiTalkBlog. All rights reserved.

SitiTalkBlog is focused primarily on Africa's socio-economic and political issues, scientific and medical topics, as well as global current issues and news. SitiTalkBlog also highlights positive entertainment as long as it has the potential to cause us to think and take positive actions. The blog is geared towards sensitizing people to take constructive actions and engineer practical solutions

Reprint and Re-distribution Permission: Any and all parts of this original article may be reproduced as long as the author and SitiTalkBlog and References and links are cited and maintained as in the original publication. No part of the original article may be modified or used for commercial purposes, and no additional authors may be added or cited except as indicated “Ernie J. Burgher and SitiTalkBlog” in the original article