So this is the beginning of a letter to an editor of a newspaper. We were supposed to pick a topic which is a case of someone breaching someone's rights. So, since I have recently watched a report on 'Child Brides' in New Zealand, i went with that theme. Here's what I have so far:
Dear Editor,
I recently watched a report, on TV One’s Sunday, about ‘Child Brides’ and I am shocked. It described the story of a young woman who had been raped on her way home from school, and then, her parents forced her to marry her attacker. Who i their right mind would do this to their child?
It says in the report that the parents believe that if their child doesn’t marry her rapist, she will bring shame to her family. That is an absolute outrage. If your child was raped on their way home from school, you wouldn’t say that they had to marry the attacker. You would press charges on the disgusting, paedophilic man who did it.
The woman in the interview says, quote, “In the religion, you can be married at nine.” She was fourteen: two years under the legal age, when she got married. In India, the age of marital consent is eighteen; yet parents still force their children to get married believing that being married at a young age is a cultural tradition, and that it is okay. The woman from the interview is a New Zealand citizen. She also says, “Sometimes the parents think that New Zealand law doesn’t apply to them.” If you live in New Zealand, the law applies to you, so, shoiuldn't the parents be arrested?
There may be Shakti, a small company that helps young women in this situation, but; shouldn’t the police be doing more about this? More help and compensation for the girls who have been through this? It makes me sick. I even read that a six year old girl was forced to marry an eighty year old man.
Tell me what you think, I asked if maybe I could actually send this into a newspaper, so i want it to be perfect... Tear it apart.
