I almost don't have words for this.
An 11-year-old in Bulgaria just gave birth to a baby. Her husband is 19 and faces criminal charges. The article says she became pregnant two weeks after her eleventh birthday and had the baby on her wedding day.
I haven't had sex education classes and I didn't know how to get pregnant. I'd never had a boyfriend and I'd never heard of condoms," she said" "I didn't know I was pregnant until my grandmother saw I had put on weight. I just thought I'd eaten too many burgers.
The article doesn't mention either of their parents or families, which makes me curious. But thing that really jumps out at me is that they mention her by name. Granted it's U.S. policy (not law) that prohibits reporting rape victim's names, and this is in Bulgaria, but it still bothers me.
This girl is both a child AND a rape victim.
Also, the friend that showed me this article and I agreed that unfortunately, these stories are not all that uncommon. It's a fact of life for girls around the world, we all know that.
But articles like this don't talk about the larger issue, just the fact that she's 11 years old. In a way, I feel like they're just sensationalizing the story and in fact taking advantage of her yet again. On the other hand, informing the public of situations like hers are a step toward fixing the problem.
What do you think? Am I way off?
On a side note, this whole thing really reminds me of what the Girl Effect is trying to do.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: 11 year old girl gives birth on her wedding day.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/16926
What is a "gypsy school"?
What astounds me is this guy "loves" her, but he has unprotected sex with her? WTF? He doesn't talk to her about sex?
Talk about entitlement!
"Gypsy school" is a segregated school for students of Rroma heritage. They're very common in Eastern European countries.
oh wow. that is terrible and my jaw literally dropped when I read the article
It happens all the time in developing countries as well as in poor communities right here in America. (I have seen it with my own eyes). If one really wants to do something about it then one should foster economic development.
First off, "gypsy school" is a special institution for children of Roma families. Roma (gypsy) people all over the world, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia are violently discriminated against; murdered, beaten, and rejected from participating in greater society. Many Roma people live in "camps" which consist of literal shacks, little food or water, and are oftentimes near or even on a landfill. In America we don't hear of this because everyone has such a romantic vision of gypsies (with their guitars and flowers and dark skin and flowing hair) but this is a serious problem and you can read the Human Rights Watch reports to get raw numbers and examples if you are really interested.
Yes, this is awful but this is a tradition that goes back a very long time and because many Roma people are very, very, very poor the only way they can get any money to survive is to sell their daughters off at a young age to get married. I am not in any way condoning this practice, but I feel more often than not many Americans get "so shocked" at such stories because in America there are few, if any, real traditions especially when it comes to marriage. Many people who are so shocked at these stories are priviledged enough to first off...own a computer, have the internet, and probably countless other things that the Roma people will honestly never be able to obtain. Therfore, rather than trying to stop the Roma from performing child marriages, I think Americans (and the world) need to focus on ending the discrimination OF the Roma people so that they may have jobs in the cities and opportunities for health care and other things.
This is an issue close to my heart and I really hope at least one person understands where I am coming from.
I completely agree. I don't agree with the practice but there is a much more overriding issue at work here. The Roma face horrendous discrimination and many people in Eastern Europe openly say that their countries would be better if the Roma were exterminated. Many are living under extreme poverty that most Americans can barely comprehend.
I also can't stand most Australian and British newspapers. They sensationalize stories to a much higher degree than American newspapers.
I agree, but I think it's good that people are informed that this is still happening. Perhaps adding that personal note to it will really give people a slap in the face. This is a kid. This could have been your kid. Something needs to be done.