Yerima persuades Senate to support underage marriage

Earlier today, the hashtag #childnotbride was trending on twitter due to a Senator’s attempt to change the constitutional definition of “full age” for a married woman. According to the constitutional definition, a person is of full age when he/she is eighteen years old, but Senator Yerima believed the same should not apply to married women, considering the fact that he married an underaged girl in 2009 . This move caused an uproar on twitter and sparked a debate on the topic of child brides and pedophilia. According to Channelstv.com “the former Zamfara State Governor and Current Senator, Sani Yerima, whose marriage to a 13-year old girl drew widespread outrage in 2009, literally pressed the Senate to reverse a vote that appeared to outlaw underage marriage, almost marring a crucial constitution amendment vote Tuesday.” Not only is this news disturbing, it is also frightening because firstly, Nigeria is not a nation that abides by the Sharia/ Islamic Law. Secondly, there are numerous health repercussions when a child engages in sexual activities with an adult male. An example of the cons attributed to this practice is exemplified in an article published on the 9th of April 2010 by the Daily Mail UK. The article was about a 13 year old girl who died due to internal injuries four days following an arranged marriage. The article quoted a medical report which stated that the she suffered a tear in her genitals and severe bleeding. Other side effects of this practice include: increased chances of the formation of vaginal fistula, still birth, premature births and sexually transmitted diseases.