In Pakistan, 24% of girls marry before they turn 18.
However this figure is challenged by activists who claim the ratio might
be higher.
The province of Sindh, where Sujag Sansar (SSO) operates,
is one of the most affected regions in the country with 33% of girls
forced into marriage, usually to much older men.
The numbers are even higher in rural and remote areas like
Dadu District, where Ghulam Rasool worked. It’s in those marginalised
areas that grassroots organisations like ours work to challenge deeply
rooted views of women and girls.
In rural Pakistan, child marriage is strongly associated with culture and custom. Those who question practices such as vani or swara, where girls are given away in marriage to settle disputes, regularly face anger from tribal authorities.
Anti-child marriage activists are often threatened, accused
of interfering with family issues or violating the honour of a tribe,
and journalists like Ghulam Rasool face the same hostility too.
SUPPORTING JOURNALISTS TO HIGHLIGHT CHILD MARRIAGE
That’s why it is crucial for civil society to work together with local journalists.
After all, the media plays such an important role in
reporting cases of human rights violations. They can talk about it in
the press, on the internet; they can convince people on a larger scale
than we can.
Though most journalists know little about child marriage,
they are eager to learn. So we invite them to workshops to discuss how
they can get involved. We hand out factsheets with information on the
scope of child marriage, locally and globally, and its consequences for
girls’ development.
Many of them don’t know that child marriage happens so
often and in so many countries. Once they understand its repercussions,
they feel empowered to take action.
Our trainings attract many journalists. You see many
journalists in Pakistan, particularly in the regions, work on a
voluntary basis: they don’t get paid and rarely get training
opportunities. We train them to cover child marriage cases and women’s
issues in a sensitive way. It’s a valuable skill to have. Before, you
would read stories glamourising the child bride or minimising her plight
but it doesn’t happen as much now.
Moral support is an important component of the workshops as
well because journalists can feel discouraged by the slow pace of
change. For reporters to know that by highlighting the problem of child
marriage they strengthen our grassroots efforts to address the practice,
this lessens their feeling of isolation and encourages them to
continue.
“OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL MEDIA IS ONE OF SOLIDARITY AND INTEGRITY”
There used to be a gulf between civil society and
journalists. They pictured us sitting in big offices, making money. Now,
they see what our work is like, and our relationship has changed to one
of solidarity and integrity.
It’s not uncommon to see child marriages stopped by the
joint efforts of journalists and civil society. And the message that
child marriage is a violation of girls’ human rights reaches more and
more people every day.
Ghulam Rasool’s death did not intimidate journalists, a
reporter told me at a workshop. Quite the opposite: they are even more
determined to continue their friend’s mission.
Together, SSO and local journalists will continue exposing
violations of human rights, no matter how powerful the culprits are,
until child marriage is no longer.
Source: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/solidarity-in-the-face-of-hostility/
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