A blind spot in international human rights framework: a space between tradition and modernity within the child marriage discourse

Abstract

By studying child marriage as a discursive practice, this article argues that the current international legal framework of child marriage is problematic. Transnational organisations dismiss what they consider to be the 'tradition' of 'the South', while their linear conceptualisation of development fails to recognise the possibility of adolescent agency existing within 'traditional' social networks. This overlooked blind spot is a problem we encounter more frequently with human rights: without overcoming the blind spot, the human rights framework risks becoming self-defeating and failing to achieve the endwhich is to protect agency of human beings. A reconceptualisation of the current black-and-white child marriage framework is needed, so that it becomes fully emancipatory and efficient in practice.

Child Marriage as a ‘Solution’ to Modern Youth in Bali

“…When an unmarried woman gives birth, the family is expected to perform a ceremony in their community. These ceremonies can be costly and sometimes involve several people from the community, so they function as both economic and social sanctions (Horii, 2019b: 298).…”

“…As shown in Horii’s (2019a) analysis on major international organizations’ reports, despite a large number of campaigns and reports on this topic, the definition, discourse, and the relevant legal rules regarding child marriage remain uniform, unchallenged, and simplistic. This generalizing approach to child marriage risks encouraging a ‘right discourse’ (Grugel, 2013: 20), which focuses on individuals who have been deprived of their ‘rights’.…”

“…Grugel argues that the rights discourse risks detracting attention from underlying structures that shape inequalities and their reproduction (Grugel, 2013: 20). As argued elsewhere, aiming to ‘end child marriage’ altogether is not an effective approach (Horii, 2018), considering that types and motivations for child marriages are diverse (Horii and Grijns, 2019). Boyden et al (2012: 520) have also highlighted the risk of the abolitionist approach, which could neglect the most critical social and economic problems.…”

Are Indonesian Girls Okay? An Examination of The Discourse of Child Marriage, Victimization, and Humanitarian Visuality of Global South Girls

“…Moving forward, future empirical research on child marriage needs to investigate the contextualized realities of this practice, including to put the focus on investigating young people's sexualities and the agency of young people in determining with whom, when, and how marriage occurs (see Colquhoun and Nilan 2020 in this edition). Through this, as informed by previous research in Indonesia (see Horii 2019Horii , 2020Grijns and Horii 2018), future social policies can offer a range of alternatives in addressing the harmful impacts of child marriage beyond regulating the minimum age as envisaged by the dominant discourse. By focusing on banning child marriage, social policies obscure the diverse social realities, tend to drive the practices underground (see Boyden et.…”

“…The discourse of reproductive rights and choice as it is 'transferred' to the Global South girls, however, takes a different form. The right and choice to delay motherhood and pregnancy are promoted by NGOs to countries like Indonesia as a form of 'empowerment' and population control that can help alleviate poverty and social issues (Horii 2019). So, while it is framed as reproductive rights and choice, it is also about fulfilling the demand for Global South young women's entry to and intensification of their role in the labour force.…”