I left school because I was four months pregnant,” says Isabel, a
17-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of Dili, capital of
Timor-Leste (East Timor). Her daughter, Klarisa, is now seven months old
and her husband, Joao, is 20 and works as a plumber. The couple married
soon after Isabel fell pregnant.
In Timor-Leste, girls can legally be married at 15, boys at 18.
Almost 19 per cent of girls in Timor-Leste are married by the time
they are 19. The fertility rate is one of the highest in the region with
women having, on average, six children. Marriage, and child marriage in
particular, is often a consequence of pregnancy for girls in
Timor-Leste.
Isabel dropped out of high school in Grade 10 because she “felt
embarrassed” and because it’s a violation of school rules to be pregnant
and enrolled as a student.
Girls and boys in Timor-Leste have limited access to family planning
services, which are only available to married couples, and little
knowledge of sexual education.
“Young people don’t know how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy,” says Isabel.
Child marriage is a plague in Southeast Asia, deeply rooted in
poverty, gender inequality and traditional practices. May, Nuan and
Isabel have to live with the consequences, forced to drop out of school
and risk their lives.
“I still want to enjoy my life and study like my other friends,” says
Isabel, “but I can’t because I am a mother and have to stay at home to
look after my baby.”
Source: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/
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