Sunday 21 July 2013

Actress Stephanie Linus speaks on girl child marriage


Actress Stephanie Linus Says

''The Senate's resolution of Tuesday (that deems a married under-age girl as an adult) was for me, a sword pierced at female-hood.  I for one, cannot be quiet and would not seat still until this is addressed. 

“The contentious provision, Section 29, allows citizens who are of age to renounce Nigerian citizenship if they wish. For that purpose, the constitution says, 18-year-olds and above shall be considered to be “of age”.

In addition, a woman or girl who is married, shall also be considered to be of age- a section that could be interpreted to imply that even a day old child, once married, shall be considered to be of age.

The tricky part is:
“That this section, when referenced in the larger picture will make a pedophile, who marries even an 8 year old
(as I have seen in Nigeria) "not liable because his "CHILD Wife" is automatically considered an adult. The likes of him will immediately point you to section 29, subsection 4b that says - "any woman who is married shall be "deemed to be of "full age.""

The child that got married did not chose to do so on her own will, she was forced into marriage and should not be deemed an adult as a result..
I feared this would happen some day and so began a campaign in 2004 to drive the message home; at this critical juncture i am now compelled to release unofficial (raw footage) videos of my upcoming movie, "DRY" to galvanize support from Nigerians and the International community for the revocation of the Senate resolution.  
Nigerians! It's time to lend your voices and share your thoughts. We need to protect the girl child from incessant abuse.''

VVF
 VVF is caused by early marriage,it is an abnormal fistulous tract extending between the bladder and the vagina that allows the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault.
VVF is caused by prolonged obstructed labour
In addition to the medical sequelae from these fistulas,.“The leakage is accompanied by a smell. The smell often leads to social isolation because in most cases everybody, including relatives, keeps away from the victims because of the smell. This can lead to depression in the victim,”  

Child marriage is common in many parts opf the world, claiming millions of victims annually--and hundreds of thousands of injuries or death resulting from abuse or complications from pregnancy and childbirth. 
irls who marry between the ages of 10 and 14 are five times as likely to die during pregnancy6 or childbirth as women in their early 20s.

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