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PAKISTAN / CHILD MARRIAGE
STORY: PAKISTAN / CHILD MARRIAGE
TRT: 3:07
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / PUNJABI / NATS
DATELINE: 22 JANUARY 2011, SALEWALA, PAKISTAN
1. Wide shot, girls clapping
2. Close up, girls clapping
3. Wide shot, girls clapping and playing a game
4. Close up, girls clapping and playing a game
5. Various shots, girls playing in the Child Friendly Center
6. Close up, UNICEF Child Friendly Center’s exterior, pan from sign to window
7. Med shot, four child brides
8. Close up, child bride
9. Close up, child bride’s eyes
10. Med shot, child brides sitting in a row
11. Close up, child bride’s daughter
12. Med shot, three brides along with a sleeping child
13. Close up, Farzana with her daughter
14. SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Farzana, 17-year-old child bride and mother of two:
“It hurts me. It hurts me a lot as I wanted to study and make a life for myself. People don’t realize that an educated mother can raise her children better.”
15. Med shot, Farzana’s mother brings her second child into room for feeding
16. Close up, Farzana holding her baby
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Aslan Langrail, Child Protection Monitor:
”You should not give birth (to) so many children. And you should pay attention to your children and make their future good and do not make them in a prison like marrying them at 13 or 12 years of age. They say that it’s in our religion that when they get mature, they should get married.”
18. Med shot, Farzana walking out of the room with her baby
19. Wide shot, girls sitting outside on the ground with faces covered
20. Close up, Farzana’s child playing with blocks with letters and numbers
21. Wide shot, Farzana sitting by her child’s side
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Sigismund, Emergency Coordinator in Multan, Punjab, UNICEF:
”This is a long and slow procedure. We have to realize that, it’s not quickly done. But a change of mentality takes that people are coming out of isolation and we see the groups that are organized here give a different forum. We see women here, some of them still children, having babies meet with other women and have a chance to discuss their issues.”
23. SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Farzana, 17-year-old child bride and mother of two:
“We don’t want our daughters to be like us. We don’t want them to experience what we’ve been through. We want our daughters to study as much as they wish to and handle their responsibilities - become teachers or whatever they want. But we are not wealthy enough to support them. We are poor people.”
24. Wide shot, girl holding hands and playing in a ring
25. Med shot, girls holding hands and circling
26. Med shot, men and boys look on as girls circle
27. Wide shot, girls circling in the background and cow eating in the foreground
Child marriage is both a consequence and a cause of poverty. In Pakistan, parents often approve of child marriage as a way of reducing the number of mouths to feed in large families. But early marriage leads to early childbearing, which has severe health risks implications for both mother and child.
At a UNICEF centre in Punjab, girls like Farzana were married off as soon as they reach puberty. She was married off to a distant relative at the age of 15. Now 17, she is the mother of two toddlers.
SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Farzana, 17-year-old child bride and mother of two:
“It hurts me. It hurts me a lot as I wanted to study and make a life for myself. People don’t realize that an educated mother can raise her children better.”
Stopping child marriage lays the foundation for girls' access to education, improved child and maternal health, and sustainable economic development that includes girls, all of which are crucial in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
According to UNICEF, early childbearing is the leading cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries. Those born to child brides grow up less healthy and poorer.
SOUNDBITE (English) Aslan Langrail, Child Protection Monitor:
”You should not give birth (to) so many children. And you should pay attention to your children and make their future good and do not make them in a prison like marrying them at 13 or 12 years of age. They say that it’s in our religion that when they get mature, they should get married.”
Although UNICEF officials are optimistic of changing attitudes, fears remain that last year’s flooding may accelerate the practice of child marriage. Nearly 20 million people were affected by the floods and many not only lost their homes, but also the means to earn a living.
Parents may now reluctantly decide to push their daughters into unwanted early marriages because of poverty.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Sigismund, Emergency Coordinator UNICEF, Multan, Punjab:
”This is a long and slow procedure. We have to realise that, it’s not quickly done. But a change of mentality takes that people are coming out of isolation and we see the groups that are organised here give a different forum. We see women here, some of them still children, having babies meet with other women and have a chance to discuss their issues.”
SOUNDBYTE (Punjabi), Farzana, 17-year-old child bride and mother of two:
“We don’t want our daughters to be like us. We don’t want them to experience what we’ve been through. We want our daughters to study as much as they wish to and handle their responsibilities - become teachers or whatever they want. But we are not wealthy enough to support them. We are poor people.”
Farzana says such a cycle is one she doesn’t want repeated. Without financial support for families to break old habits, she does, however, fear the worst.
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