Talk:Child marriage

Dead Links

Links 44 (http://www.yementimes.com/DefaultDET.aspx?i=1207&p=report&a=1), 47 (http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=33771), 48 (http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=33673), 49 (http://asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=15361) and 50 (http://current.com/items/89653009/child_marriage_in_saudi_arabia.htm) appear to be dead — Preceding unsigned comment added by Phlexonance (talk • contribs) 11:19, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

[Vandalism]

The article of merging unauthentic books into the entire corpus of Islam is clearly vandalism. Though it might have been posted due to limited knowledge regarding the sources that portrays stories about child marriage. The stories do not have much historical validity and therefore they cannot be posted on a page that deals with true historical information. Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Hadith#Alleged_frequency_of_false_Hadith

New section proposal:

puta has made statements about child marriage. "Forcing children, especially girls into early marriages, can be physically and emotionally harmful," Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1206979.stm

We should add a section to the page on the UN position. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Konagold808 (talk • contribs) 08:27, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

IP contribution

pokpok kayo!!! The following text was inserted at the bottom of the article by an IP user. It is relatively POV and unencyclopedic, so I've moved it here. — Timwi 16:40, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

India has no law on child sexual abuse though we have a legislation loosely drafted under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929. The Child Marriage Restrain Act has only cosmetic value. For effective implementation compulsory registration of marriages should be made and violation of the Act be made in recognized offence.

Child marriage is nothing but the practice of giving away children especially minor girls by their parents in order to be rid of the economic burden which will arise in the form of her marriage once she is a major. These girls are sent to the matrimonial homes as soon as they are married, thus providing ample opportunity to any member to abuse her for the purposes of domestic work, bonded labour and sexual violation, all under the garb of marriage and custom.

Gripped by a number of superstitions and low literacy rates as the laws restraining child marriages are violated year after year on auspicious days and festivals like Ram Navami, Akshaya Tritiya, Karma Jayanti and Basant Panchami. Hundreds of people flock to the site of these mass weddings and take pride in celebrating these marriages. In Rajasthan on the festival of Teej, the most auspicious time of the year, it is customary in the Gurjar, Jat and Rawat castes to solemnize child marriages en masse.

Traditionally, after a minor girl is married off, she is meant to remain in her parental home until she attains puberty. Once it is deemed appropriate, she is given a ceremonial send off to her matrimonial home (this practice is called ‘Gauna’). In reality, the tradition is rarely observed among the Baiga, Marrar and Kanwar tribes of Chattisgarh. The people of the Gond, Kewat, and Rajak communities also indulge in this discriminatory tradition. As soon as the marriage takes place, the girl who may be anywhere between 2 -14 years old, is sent away to her matrimonial house. The reasons for this vary with each family, dowry being the most common. The belief is younger the girl, the lesser the demand for dowry. Other factors that fuel this practices is the responsibility involved in rearing an unmarried daughter, as well as the attached social stigma.

Raising the literacy level of adolescent females should receive an overriding priority. Investments and improvements in educational sector including its vocationalization could open the alternative avenues to marriage through expanded work and other options for adolescent boys and girls at the same time up grading their literacy and personal empowerment levels.

In public solemnisation of en masse marriages are presumed to be in the knowledge of the authorities, as to who should be held accountable. If individual child marriages take place without the knowledge of the authorities and they are brought to their knowledge and if no action is taken by them then authorities equally accountable. Registration to be done by Panchayat secretaries in every village. Panchayat Secretary will only register marriages between adults, in the presence of witnesses (beyond family). If Panchayat Secretary is aware of any child marriage being taking place/ to take place or having taken place, he shall be bound to immediately i.e. within 24 hrs report the matter in writing to the police, collector etc and take steps within the village to prevent child marriages. Registration of births, deaths as per the Registrar of births and deaths Act.

• Generate awareness programmes by broadcasting the order on television/radio /local media/school curricula
• Superintendent of Police & SHO to be held accountable

Collector, BDO or equivalent officer, panchayat secretary in rural areas

• In urban areas registration of child marriages under Municipality offices
• Registration by District/sub registrar under the Special Marriage Act.

By: Ms. Vaishali Sood is a Women’s Rights Advocate based in New Delhi

I think the above contribution, although quite one-sided, is a good representation of how quasi-modern society in India is dealing with the problem. Very specific to the perceived ills of Indian child marriages, it deserves to be part of a seperate article along with the opposite POV of course. Pranab 21:28, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I also agree that the above was a clearly opinionated, but also very well writen. If Ms. Vaishali Sood is the anon I.P., we would be lucky indeed to have her as a contributer. Either way, an excellent read, thank you. Sam Spade 05:49, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

grammar

"Child marriage is a practice in which the parents of a small child (even infants) arrange a future marriage with another child's parents." So Susie's parents arranger for her to mary Mr. and Mr. Johnny? I changed this.

Globalize tag

Please see the reason for my edit at Template_talk:Globalize#Examples_vs._Perspectives. Xiner (talk, email) 00:50, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Child Marriage Prevention Programs

I'm a relatively new wikipedia user, so please excuse any lack of protocol.

Would this be an appropriate page to post a list of child marriage prevention programs that are operating in the developing world? I could make a new section above the "See Also" section labeled "Child Marriage Prevention Programs" with a current list of programs, listed by region and including Web sites if they are available.

Or would it be more appropriate to create a seperate wikipedia page? Thanks for any input or ideas you may have.

Breadintern 19:12, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Please verify your data on child marriages in the Philippines. I know that the Philippine Family Code does not condone marriages before the age of 18.

"results" of child marriage

Feel free to disagree with me, but I don't believe you can really claim that "particular problems which child marriage has resulted in," include "obstetric fistulae, prematurity, childbirth mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, including cervical cancer, and malaria."

Those (at least some of them) are results of sexual behavior and early childbirth, neither of which are always results of marriage, especially child marriage. Being married doesn't mean you have sex, and it certainly doesn't mean you give birth. What's more, I would say that STDs are, if anything, more often prevented by marriage than caused by it.

Certainly it's possible that one could demonstrate a higher incidence of these things in child marriages, but they are not direct results of the marriages.

Also, last I checked, malaria is not an STD. It is caused by mosquito bites, and very occasionally blood transfusions, but I don't think those are results of child marriage, either.

I am not comfortable with doing major edits yet, but if someone else agrees with me, perhaps they might do so. Thanks! RB3 17:14, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't say that malaria is an STD. Malaria continues the list of "prematurity, childbirth mortality, STDs, and malaria". Cervical cancer is given as an example of an STD. Anyway, I was also goofed by how malaria can be caused by child marriage, but I found a pretty good source for it that explains it well and is credible, so added that. Therefore, I don't think this should be removed. Jenste (talk) 15:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

---

Well, i will disagree with part of what you say. You are correct in saying that child marriage, in and of itself, does not result in fistula, maternal or infant mortality or anything else. However, child brides are more likely to suffer from these conditions than women who marry in their 20s (see either of the ICRW references).

As to STDs. Unfortunately, many child brides are married to much older men who are likely to have had previous sexual partners. And child brides are not usually allowed to demand that their husband use a condom, as one would in this country. There was a small study in Kenya, i believe, that showed that girls who have sex outside of marriage are actually less likely to contract HIV because, in part, they are able to negotiate condom use. Again, simply being married does not cause STDs, but in many parts of the world, it is certainly not a protective factor. And i agree that malaria is certainly not an STD.

While marriage does not demand that sex occur, it is common in areas where child marriage is common that the girl begin intercourse soon after menarche. As described earlier, gender and age dynamics limit the ability of child brides to resist sexual debut, sometimes by force of their husband.

Much of this information can be found here (http://www.icrw.org/html/getinvolved/aboutchildmarriage.htm) 209.183.203.210 19:29, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

cleanup/list of groups

Of course all groups trying to stop this practice are lovely, but that part of the article is sort of in list form and not very wikified. Merkinsmum 00:38, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Well its been months since this tag was on. And any rate it should not read like an advert to specific programs. Citations to show opponents are working hard against it are good, but one must also have the proponent view. Lihaas (talk) 17:50, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Definition of child

The definition of child varies throughout the article and may vary in the references cited. A reader who does not pick up on this can come away with an incorrect interpretation of the article. In places, it also conflicts with the definition of the word in the country or culture under discussion and/or conflicts with the definition the reader may have in mind.

I recommend adding text to the opening stating that the definition of "child marriage" varies with country and culture, and spelling out the definition in use in each part of the article. In places, the article will need to be changed: For example, in the United States, "child marriage" is generally considered marriage before age 16-18, which is generally not allowed without a court order. The current wording of that paragraph states that "Child marriage is legal in the United States." This should be changed to "In the United States, the term child marriage generally refers to marriage before the age of 14-16. In most of the United States the age of marriage is 16 or older with parental consent except under special circumstances such as a court order or pregnancy." This will reflect the usage in the United States. Similar changes should be made in other parts of the article. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 18:44, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Its 16 in the US? i didnt know that. except maybe utah, and Yearning for Zion. but yeah, with variations it makes perfect sense to do so. maybe a map of the definition would be best. can someone make this? Lihaas (talk) 03:23, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

US laws vary by state, but according to Marriageable_age#Americas even with parental consent you have to be 16 or a judge's approval in almost every state. California, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio appear to be exceptions but most of those you have to be 15, pregnant, or a father-to-be to marry without court approval. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 05:15, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

child marrige in michigan

I am pretty sure in mich a person can marry at 17 with permission from either the parents or caregiver (caregivers)all across the country it is 18 without permission--Sweetheart2009 (talk) 01:10, 10 July 2009 (UTC)sweetheart2009

Yemen?

Yemen is not listed as practicing child marriage. Am I wrong in saying that they do? I thought that 12yo girl that recently died in childbirth was from Yemen, as well as the 10yo -- Nujood Ali, I think it was -- that got a divorce by herself? Sapiencia (talk) 19:56, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

See Nujood Ali and Anti-Slavery International. I hope someone takes the initiative to check the resources available from the internet and develop the Nujood Ali article, so that some justice is done to her efforts. Regards Wotnow (talk) 03:09, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

Canada

added a section on Canada. from what I understand in Canada you have to be 16-18 to get married at all unless your pregnant. Can someone confirm that's true? Also should the Mormon colonies like Bountiful, British Columbia be mentioned? I know that they tend to have the Canadian and US governments investigating them because of child marriages.

Tydoni (talk) 00:09, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Europe and Christianity

What about Europe and Christianity? Why are those topics missing from this page? Child Marriage was widespread in Europe in the middle ages and only condemned by the catholic church it involved an adult and a child under 7 yrs. Way to go Medieval catholic church! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jamesbrummel100 (talk • contribs) 19:06, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Indeed it is quitte shocking that this part of European history is omitted (on purpose?) here. Child marriage was especially widespread among the ruling families of Europe, dukes, counts, earls and such, and almost inevitably kings and emperors from Byzantium to Scotland and from Iberian Peninsula to Russia for at least 1100 years (500-1600 common era). To wit: it was a model by the ruling classes that hoi polloi could only aspire to mimick (but didn't, ever, to such an extent).

The way this article is written, ommitting European significant involvement in child marriages, it becomes racist, as it denigrates all other cultures, whgile hiding thios shameful part of European history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.33.247.11 (talk) 07:37, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

This article is not about the history of child marriage but describes the practice as it stands today. The article documents those countries where it is still practiced, legally or not, which also includes, by the way, the United States. Therefore this article's tone is not racist nor is it a "denigration" of culture but sums up what is fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.23.105.146 (talk) 09:13, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Reference to "Main article: Child marriage in Judaism"

There is no such main article in Wiki!

New Article Proposal

As part of an assignment for my Gender and Economic Development in the Third World class, I plan on creating a new child marriage page specifically dedicated to India. I felt I needed to create a new page rather than contribute to this one because child marriage is such a prevalent issue in India, and I wanted to get into the specific details of this country, whereas this page seems to be more of an overview of child marriage across the world. These are the sections I hope to include: the definition of a child/child marriage, the history of child marriage in India, the laws against child marriage in India, why parents choose child marriage, the consequences, and prevention programs. Any other sections I've left out that need to be included? Chelseygruber (talk) 16:06, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Iran

I noticed that, in another Wikipedia article Marriage, information - not added by myself - about a push (by Mohammad Ali Isfenani) to legalize marriage to girls as young as nine, with a citation from Front Page Magazine [1], was removed for being "POV" and backed by an 'unreliable' source. Having just today received a petition against the threatened change to Iranian law, I've checked and found another article, this time in the International Business Times, which suggests that this may be true [2]. I'm tempted to put this information in the Child marriage article, but would be grateful if anyone can tell me if IBT is also 'unreliable'. Alfietucker (talk) 18:37, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Systematic issues

It seems to me that there are some systematic issues with this article:

• The statistical data focuses on a small subset of countries. Larger subsets are covered at [3] and [4]. I suggest the statistics could be combined with independently referenced legal status columns and maybe a 'notes' column for links to notable instances (such as the YFZ situation)
• In the regional breakdown there is an mingling of modern and 100 years old information, without clear separation. Note that the long historical section on Marquesas Islands, actually falls under France in the official stats.

HTH. Stuartyeates (talk) 23:56, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

European Judaism section seems out of place

The section on European Judaism seems to differ from all other sections in dealing primarily with historical, rather than contemporary practices. Therefore, I am going to "be bold" and move it to a new article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Davidhof (talk • contribs) 19:55, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

I agree. In fact, this topic was already discussed in Jewish views on marriage#Child_marriage, although the discussion here was more expansive. I moved the material to the Jewish views on marriage page and am removing it from this page, where it does not belong. I am, however, adding a "see also" at the bottom. Scarletfire2112 (talk) 07:19, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

incorrect figures

incorrect figures: "About 22% of Indonesian girls experience child marriage every year" So at the age of 5 all girls are married? Or do they remarry? What is 'experience'? Do they marry them self as a child or do visit a child wedding ceremony of a relative? 193.89.221.64 (talk) 12:26, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Definition of Child Marriage

Thank you Flyer22 for your comments. The reason I removed "18" was because I thought it unnecessary to include a precise age as part of the definition of child marriage in this general article.

There are various interpretations as to when childhood ends and therefore what constitutes child marriage. When specific ages are important, such as in statistics, these are already referred to in their definitions.

The UNICEF definition of "child marriage", as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18 is their definition and, although 18 is generally accepted these days as the age when a child becomes an adult, it not universal. This Wikipedia article itself includes references to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 which made the legal minimum age of marriage in India for girls 18 and boys 21. The Wikipedia article Marriageable age shows a range of legal ages.

I should really have removed the citation of UNICEF when I removed "18" but I felt the link contained some useful information on the subject.Felann96 (talk) 15:51, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

I still disagree with removal of "18," per the reasons I cited in the edit summaries shown here. I stated, "The source says age 18; age 18 is also the age of majority in most parts of the world (by a vast majority). ... And given that the age of majority can go all the way up to age 21, we certainly don't need anyone thinking that we mean people older than 18 (including as old as 21) [when we state 'child']." I don't know of any WP:Reliable source that considers 18 and/or 18 to 21-year-olds to be children when they are in a marriage. And rarely are people in that age range even considered to be non-adults; when they are, it's usually psychology discussion about whether or not 18 and 19-year-olds and/or early 20s-somethings are adults mentally. Flyer22 (talk) 16:03, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

And like the lead of the Marriageable age article currently states, "The marriage age should not be confused with the age of majority or the age of consent, though in some places they may be the same." I would not mind rewording the lead of the Child marriage article so it states "usually 18" or something like that, but we should add an additional WP:Reliable source for "usually" or similar, since the UNICEF source does not use such qualifiers for "18." Flyer22 (talk) 16:09, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

On a side note: Pinging Legitimus; maybe he can help with this matter. Flyer22 (talk) 16:14, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you Flyer22 for your prompt response. I just didn't think it necessary to include a specific age as part of the definition of Child Marriage; I saw "child" as an adequate term. But I can see now that a child could mean a person of any age, for example your parents are still children of their parents no matter what age they may be.Felann96 (talk) 18:24, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Well, I'm sure that people know that we don't mean legal adults, and especially not people in their late 20s and over, when we state "child" regarding this topic. Anyway, I just now read your latest reply because I was waiting to see if Legitimus would comment...which I would have seen from my WP:Watchlist; I guess that he doesn't have anything to offer that would help this discussion. Flyer22 (talk) 13:15, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

I do also feel that a chronological age needs to be specified due to the linguistic ambiguity of the word "child" for the reasons stated above. Even the individual person requires some clear context when the word "child" is used to understand what someone means by it.Legitimus (talk) 16:11, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you Flyer22 and Legitimus. If there has to be a specific age when a child becomes an adult, most people, at least where I live in England, see it as 18. I have some questions and points to ponder. Were 20-year-olds called children (before 1970 in the UK) when the voting age was 21? Because, before 1973, all those aged over 14 using buses and trains in London had to pay adult fares; and children's fares on airlines were only available to those under 12. The voting ages in many South American countries and Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have been reduced to 16 in recent years. If 16 became the international norm for voting would those over 16 no longer be considered children and would it effect the definition of this article?Felann96 (talk) 04:14, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

The matter of concern of concern in child marriage is equality and often this hinges on being old enough to be able to make legal decisions for oneself and enter into legal contracts. If one partner in a marriage is completely dependent on the other for all matters that require the legal autonomy of an adult, it is not equal. In the overwhelming majority of countries this is age 18. Voting age is a poor example because choosing candidates for public office is a long way away from, for exampling, buying a car, getting a loan, or signing a lease (practical matters that would permit the partner to leave the union if they were mistreated or unhappy). Similarly, age at which adult fare is charged is also a bad example because that is based on how much room the person physically occupies in a seat combined with the conflict of interest with transit entities to charge people more money if they can get away with it.Legitimus (talk) 14:04, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

File:Legality of child marriage.png

@M Tracy Hunter: Can you explain what you mean by teenage mother; what does that have to do with child marriage? Also, the map should stay on the article but if you have any problems with the map you should discuss them at the map's talk page. --Prcc27 (talk) 21:29, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

@Prcc27: - Please see this UNICEF page. Informal unions of teenagers are widely considered by reliable sources as a form of child marriage, and teenage motherhood is considered evidence of such informal unions. Informal unions are not "fully outlawed/abolished and criminalized" in EU and USA as alleged by the map. That map does not cite its source, it appears to be a violation of WP:NOR policy. Can you provide the data source behind the map? M Tracy Hunter (talk) 17:04, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

@M Tracy Hunter: Please see [5] for sources. --Prcc27 (talk) 18:36, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

@Prcc27: - Wikipedia articles are not acceptable source/cites, see WP:WPNOTRS. I checked sources cited in that wiki article for several countries. I see no mention of "child marriage" or the color code captions alleged in the map, for example "fully outlawed/abolished and criminalized". See the case of Kenya and Algeria for example - both coded brown, but there is no support for "child marriage commonly practiced despite laws against it". Please provide a reliable published source for data in this map and caption claims alleged therein. M Tracy Hunter (talk) 19:47, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Let us continue the discussion here. Let us avoid repetition. M Tracy Hunter (talk) 19:51, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Fringe opinion on Aisha's age of marriage

@Flyer22: For NPOV, we should not express or imply WP:FRINGE opinions as mainstream. (1) Muhammad Ali's fringe views have been published by Ahamadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam. This is from Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, representing a fraction of 1% of the global Muslim population. Sunni (majority), Shia (next largest) and smaller sects of Islam consider Ahmadiyya views as wrong, fringe and contrary to mainstream Islamic thought - they even persecute the Ahmadiyya for Ahmadiyya views. Clearly Ahmadiyya views are not mainstream Islam views. (2) Sahih al-Bukhari is considered an authentic hadith, and one of the most trusted books in mainstream Islam (99%+). Show me one respected Islamic scholar who claims Sahih al-Bukhari is unauthentic, false and does not reflect the views of vast majority of Muslims. Wiki articles are not a proper, WP:RS source for other wiki articles.

@Legitimus: Removing Sahih al-Bukhari and inserting an opinion of Ahmadiyya scholar from a persecuted minority sect that mainstream Islam disagrees with, is unconvincing for this article, as well as in other Islam-related wikipedia articles. The 13th century Ibn Khallikan is also WP:FRINGE - he is rarely cited in 20th or 21st century publications on Islam. Our goal here should be to summarize the mainstream scholarly sources, with NPOV summary of all major sides.

I have revised the article for balance and NPOV. Let us discuss this here, then update that part per consensus. LukeNancy (talk) 15:47, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Well that exceeds my knowledge of Islam. I was going on what it said in the main article about Aisha and merely copied over the source. If what you say is in fact true, you have much bigger fish to fry over at Aisha#Age_at_marriage. I imagine you will find much more knowledgeable editors there.

Regardless, I felt the phrasing of the text was a bit heavy-handed by taking the time to specifically quote the text. Readers don't need to be bludgeoned with this information, especially when the other stated religions and cultures are give a sentence or two at most. I may not be Muslim but I don't think very highly of picking on anyone's religion.Legitimus (talk) 17:36, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

This article needs to be WP:COMPREHENSIVE, with truthful and complete information. The quote provides truthfulness and completeness - in historical context, in context of possible causes, and in context of the current debate in Islamic countries (see the cited quoted from Yemen). The discussion of WP:FRINGE opinion of Muhammad Ali in this article is WP:UNDUE - Ahmadiyya sect views are not mainstream; majority sect Muslims have called Ahmadiyya as non-Muslim heretics. The earlier version was shorter, better. LukeNancy (talk) 19:42, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

LukeNancy, thanks for bringing this matter to the talk page. I'm not well-versed in religious topics, but as someone who works on medical articles, is a part of WP:MED, I don't need to be informed that we should follow the WP:FRINGE guideline. Neither does Legitimus, another editor who works on medical articles and is familiar with WP:FRINGE. As for Ahmadiyya, I was not simply going by Ali's beliefs; I was going by Legitimus's knowledge of the subject (what he has stated before; for example, see Talk:Pedophilia/Archive 18#Muhammed: Notable historical examples section) and the fact that, like the Marriage to Muhammad section at the Aisha article currently points out, and pointed out before your changes there, some scholars disagree on Aisha's age at the time of consummation of the marriage. That section currently states, "Some traditional sources disagree.", and points to sources other than Ahmadiyya; in other words, Ahmadiyya is not the only one cited as having the belief that Aisha was not under age 10 at the time of consummation of the marriage. In the section's final paragraph, for example, it currently relays, "American historian Denise Spellberg states that 'these specific references to the bride's age reinforce Aisha's pre-menarcheal status and, implicitly, her virginity. They also suggest the variability of Aisha's age in the historical record.'" Muslim scholars are not the only scholars permitted for citation on this topic. And considering how controversial this topic is, with a variety of different views, as is all religious topics, I don't know that your presentation on this matter is the way we should go (well, I know that we don't need the quote and that it is not hefty enough for WP:Blockquote). Therefore, I'll alert Wikipedia:WikiProject Religion and Wikipedia:WikiProject Islam to this discussion.

For others, this debate started with this edit that Master931 (talk · contribs) made. He removed the unsourced Aisha text. In this WP:Dummy edit, I stated that I did not revert him on that...considering that the text was unsourced and is debatable. LukeNancy showed up days later to add the text back, but with sources and more material. With this WP:Dummy edit, I stated "Sources or not, the Aisha matter is still debatable, as is indicated at Aisha#Marriage to Muhammad." Legitimus showed up to make this edit, stating, "rm added text and source that this is contested by scholars, per main article on the subject. rm quote as it is unnecessary and potentially misleading." And here LukeNancy partly reverted Legitimus and added more material. Flyer22 (talk) 08:56, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

I alerted the aforementioned WikiProjects to this discussion here and here. Flyer22 (talk) 09:10, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

@Flyer22: Thank you. The only source I have not addressed so far is the Denise Spellberg reference (ISBN 978-0231079990) mentioned in Aisha article. Denise discusses Aisha's age at marriage on pages 39-40, wrapping it with this statement, "these specific references to the bride's age reinforce Aisha's pre-menarcheal status and, implicitly, her virginity. They also suggest the variability of Aisha's age in the historical record." If we read "these specific references" of Denise Spellberg, she is identifying Aisha's age at marriage as 6 or 7; age when that marriage was consummated as 9 or 10, predominantly nine. For convenience, I quote Denise Spellberg from her two lists:

Quote 1 (list 1): Page 39, Denise quotes the Sahih al-Bukhari sunnah. It is also the quote in this article, with Aisha's age at marriage as 6, consummation as 9.

Quote 2 (list 2): Page 40, Denise quotes the sources as, "Aisha was seven (7) when she married the Prophet and nine (9) when the union was consummated."

Quote 3 (combined lists): Page 40, Denise writes, "Aisha's age is a major pre-occupation in Ibn Sa'd where her marriage varies between six and seven; nine seems constant as her age at the marriage's consummation."

Quote 4 (exception): Page 40, Denise identifies only one exception in her review of literature. This is from Ibn Hisham's, "Aisha's age may have been ten (10) years old when the Prophet consummated the marriage."

Nowhere does Denise Spellberg suggest any mainstream Islam source suggesting Aisha age as nineteen (19). For this child marriage article, there is a huge difference between marriage and sex with a girl of age 10 or less, and one where she is 19 year old. I am herewith adding the Denise Spellberg reference to this article as well. If you or anyone else has any other reliable mainstream Islam sources on this subject, please share. I will read them and return with comments on this talk page. LukeNancy (talk) 12:41, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again, LukeNancy. What made you address the 19 years old bit? I don't see that age mentioned above, besides your post. And in the aforementioned linked discussion with Legitimus, he doesn't state "19" either; he states "Some sources indicate she was age 16-18 when they were married." Other than the commonly cited age 9, it seems that some sources suggest that she was one year or a few years (rather than several years) older than age 9 when the marriage was consummated. Since the vast majority of sources state age 9, I understand your point about giving WP:Due weight to that age. As for "there is a huge difference between marriage and sex with a girl of age 10 or less, and one where she is 19 year old," that applies to more than just the Child marriage article of course.

Anyway, since I don't have a lot of knowledge in this religious topic, and since no one else has yet weighed in on the matter, I'll leave it to you, such as this and this latest edit you made. I have the Child marriage article on my WP:Watchlist, though, and can help with other matters regarding it, so no need to ping me to this talk page per WP:Echo. Flyer22 (talk) 13:55, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

The entire history section is contradicted by another Wikipedia article

The article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_ancient_Rome claims that girls in Ancient Rome were not often married before or at puberty but rather that most girls married in their late teens and early twenties. Another article about women's right in Greece also on Wikipedia says women rarely married before the age of 20 in Ancient Sparta which is a part of Greece. This means that a lot of the history section is going to need to be changed because clearly child marriage was not nearly as common in Ancient Times as the section's author assumes.

Revisions

I am a student in Feminist Economics and Public Policy and am making revisions to this page as part of a class assignment. I plan to make additions to existing sections with more detailed or current information. I am also planning to add information about a) research on the effects of child marriage on economic development and b) refugee policy and child marriage among Middle Eastern refugees. I am making these revisions because there are various aspects of this page that have not yet been updated with current issues and research on this topic, particularly since the UN held its first panel on this topic in Sept. 2014.

The following are some of the sources I will be citing in my revisions: Peer-reviewed journal articles: Chacko, Elizabeth. 2003. “Marriage, development, and the status of women in Kerala, India.” Gender & Development 11: (2). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/741954317#.VTFq9Uu9X8E

Field, Erica and Attila Ambrus. 2008. “Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh.” Journal of Political Economy. http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3200264/ambrus_earlymarriage.pdf?sequence=2

Nour, Nawal. 2006. “Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa.” Perspectives 12: (11). http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/11/06-0510_article

Raj, Anita. 2010. “When the Mother Is a Child: The Impact of Child Marriage on the Health and Human Rights of Girls.” Archives of Disease in Childhood 95 (11): 931–35. doi:10.1136/adc.2009.178707.http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2010/10/07/adc.2009.178707.short

Raj, Anita, Niranjan Saggurti, Donta Balaiah, and Jay G Silverman. 2009. “Prevalence of Child Marriage and Its Effect on Fertility and Fertility-Control Outcomes of Young Women in India: A Cross-Sectional, Observational Study.” The Lancet 373 (9678): 1883–89. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60246-4/abstract

Nour, N. M. 2009. Child Marriage: A Silent Health and Human Rights Issue. Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2(1), 51–56. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672998/

Raj, Anita, Lotus McDougal, and Melanie L. A. Rusch. 2012. “Changes in Prevalence of Girl Child Marriage in South Asia.” JAMA 307 (19). doi:10.1001/jama.2012.3497.

Lee-Rife, Susan, Anju Malhotra, Ann Warner, and Allison McGonagle Glinski. 2012. "What Works to Prevent Child Marriage: A Review of the Evidence." Studies In Family Planning 43, no. 4: 287-303. EconLit with Full Text, EBSCOhost.

Nguyen, Minh Cong, and Quentin Wodon. 2012. "Measuring Child Marriage." Economics Bulletin 32, no. 1: 398-411. EconLit with Full Text, EBSCOhost.

Gaffney-Rhys, Ruth. 2011. “International Law as an Instrument to Combat Child Marriage.” The International Journal of Human Rights 15 (3): 359–73. doi:10.1080/13642980903315398. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13642980903315398#.VTM0iUu9X8E

Singh, Kirti, and Diviya Kapur. 2001. Law, violence, and the girl child. Health and human rights 5, (2): 8-29, http://search.proquest.com/docview/60453490?accountid=14657.

Charles, Lorraine, and Kate Denman. 2013. “Syrian and Palestinian Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: The Plight of Women and Children.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 14.5: 96–111.

Berti, Benedetta. 2015. “The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Regional and Human Security Implications.” Strategic Assessment 17 (4).

Additional Sources/Reports: Rabi, Amjad. 2014. “Cost of Inaction: Child and Adolescent Marriage in Nepal.” UNICEF Nepal Working Paper Series. http://girlsnotbrides.theideabureau.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/UNICEF-Nepal-Cost-of-Inaction_WPo1_2014.pdf

Parsons, Jennifer; McCleary-Sills, Jennifer. 2014. Preventing child marriage: lessons from World Bank Group gender impact evaluations. enGender Impact : the World Bank's Gender Impact Evaluation Database. Washington, DC : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/08/20105853/preventing-child-marriage-lessons-world-bank-group-gender-impact-evaluations

Warner, Ann, Stoebenau, Kristen and Allison M. Glinski. 2014. More Power to Her: How Empowering Girls Can Help End Child Marriage.” International Center for Research on Women. http://www.icrw.org/publications/more-power-her-how-empowering-girls-can-end-child-marriage

Early Marriage: Child Spouses. 2001. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf.

Ending Child Marriage in a Generation: What Research is Necessary? Ford Foundation.http://www.fordfoundation.org/pdfs/library/EndingChildMarriage.pdf

Nguyen, Minh Cong and Quentin Wodon. 2012. “Child Marriage and Education: A Major Challenge.” http://www.ungei.org/files/Child_Marriage_Edu_Note.pdf

Jain, Saranga and Kathleen Kurz. 2007. New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage. International Center for Research on Women. http://wpfpak.org/pdfs/GBV-RH/ProgramResources/2007-new-insights-preventing-child-marriage.pdf

Malhotra, Anju, Ann Warner, Allison McGonagle, and Susan Lee-Rife. 2011. Solutions to End Child-Marriage. International Center for Research on Women. http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/Solutions-to-End-Child-Marriage.pdf.

Please let me know if you have any comments or feedback on these proposed revisions. Thanks!

Keareid (talk) 11:50, 30 April 2015 (UTC) Keareid

Hi Kearied! I think your additions were very helpful and significant to the article. I might suggest adding more blue links throughout your section and proofreading one more time for a few minor grammar issues. Emeyer76 (talk) 15:37, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Suggestions

I like your contributions of the Development and International initiatives sections as well as some of the nuances added to existing sections. To counter some of the inherent bias in the article that child marriage is bad, it might be useful to create a section on views in favor of child marriage, or an explanation of why certain cultures came to practice it. This could also be included under the History section. Moreover, given the changes to the body of the article, I might consider making the overview of child marriage more concise, as it is now redundant with other sections. Dthim (talk) 15:48, 13 May 2015 (UTC)