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Inequality and Stratification

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Exploring Reasons For The Persistence Of Girl-Child Marriage In Nigeria, Oluwatomisin Bello Apr 2015

Exploring Reasons For The Persistence Of Girl-Child Marriage In Nigeria, Oluwatomisin Bello

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2015

Child marriage, here, is defined as marriage after the onset of puberty but before age 18. This is a problem particularly for adolescent girls, although it affects boys as well. Although the Child’s Right Act passed in Nigeria in 2003 defines the legal minimum age of marriage as 18 and thus criminalizes child marriage, child marriage is still occurring in various parts of the country. The problem of girl-child marriage in Nigeria is significant because it is a leading cause of reproductive health issues, specifically obstetric fistulas. Acknowledging the latter, one pressing question remains, “Why is child marriage continuing?” In …


Female Genital Mutilation In Africa: A Socio-Legal Lens, Adiroopa Mukherjee Apr 2014

Female Genital Mutilation In Africa: A Socio-Legal Lens, Adiroopa Mukherjee

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2014

World Health Organization reports suggest that approximately 101 million girls under the age of ten have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Africa alone. FGM comes to the forefront as a direct violation of every woman’s basic human rights to a good, healthy, and painless existence, free form discrimination. Most studies focus on a medical approach to FGM. They show that the practice causes several serious diseases and fatal health risks through the use of unsterilized non-surgical instruments and environments, which lead to infertility, genital infections, psychological problems and, death. My research focuses on the less studied socio-legal aspects of …