Taking Bearings

CAIRO, Egypt — Women outcast by their families on the outskirts of Cairo, band together for safety and seek shelter in ancient aqueducts. As one woman who asked that her name not be used said, we were outcast “because we offended or because we lost value.”

Almost all the women interviewed said they were married very young, and that returning to their original family of birth was not an option.

Globally, such early marriages closely correlate with high birth rates, lower educational attainment, and poverty. They create an environment where after childbirth and child-raising years, women risk abandonment by families that consider them a liability.

In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chad, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Niger, and Pakistan, it is unusual for a girl to reach the age of 16 without being married. Often such marriages are arranged or otherwise forced upon young girls.

The United Nations deems undesired early marriage before 18 years-of-age or any form of forced marriage to be a violation of human rights. Pubic health experts contend that and improving the access of girls and women to healthcare and education is crucial to lowering both both birth rates and deaths during childbirth

Progress on a number of global issues will require significant advances in what are often characterized as women’s rights issues.

Progress will always be suppressed until, individually and collectively, we recognize that women’s rights issues are often also fundamental human rights issues.

Content and photo: by K. Lee Lerner. Cairo, Egypt. October, 2006. © K. Lee Lerner ©LMG. All commercial rights reserved