Child Marriage As A Major Concern in Pashto Poetry

Abstract

Child marriage is a major concern we read in Pashto poetry. They believe fewer financial resources left people in desperate need to survive, and it has caused both girls and boys to pay the price. Poor parents give away their girls to wealthy men regardless their background check and that child marriage is one of the tragedies that got the attention of Pashto language poets. Before to read poems about child marriage, explanation is needed to the age which is considered as child. According to Afghanistan Civil Law a legal age for a female is 16 and 18 for male. It means a girl can marry at the age of sixteen and a boy at eighteen. It also means a child in Afghanistan is no longer a child as soon he/she reaches 16 and 18. UNFPA reported that child marriages are illegal because both partners did not cross the age they were prescribed by the law. Afghanistan’s minimum age of marriage 16 or 18 is well below the internationally recommended standard of 18.  Child marriages are usually aimed at strengthening ties with rival families and tribes, as part of deals or to settle blood feuds and disputes. At the meantime, a financially poor families often end up selling daughters for large dowries that is offered by wealthy mean who by age or much older.