VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN | AFRICA | ADVOCACY & POLICY | CULTURE
Woman, Girl, Wife?
Investigating Global Discourses on Childhood, Consent, and Maturity
WORDS BY ELIZABETH SYKES | SYKES@THEIWI.ORG | 12 November 2024
Earlier this year a young, South Sudanese bride captured the attention of social media use. Athiak Dau Riak, claimed by her father to be 19, was dubbed ‘the most expensive bride in South Sudan’ (Floren Miettaux, The Guardian September 2024), deemed valuable for her height and beauty. Having wed his daughter, the wedding, occurring after months of competition between two South Sudanese expats in their forties, represented for many an ‘affirmation of Dinka culture and identity’ (Floren Miettaux, The Guardian September 2024). However, with increasing social media attention came protests from Athiak Dau Riak’s mother, Deborah Kuir Yach, and maternal family, objecting to the marriage with evidence that the celebrated bride is 14 years old.
Now married and separated from her mother, Athiak Dau Riak’s marriage has stirred debate between those who interpret the events as celebration of Dinka culture and those who condemn the wedding given that a child has been sold into marriage. Amongst the protesters is Athiak Dau Riak’s uncle, who has also declared his niece a minor and described the marriage as “a classic example of pedophilia.” (Floren Miettaux, The Guardian September 2024) These claims, disputing Riak’s father’s assertions, are evidenced by emergency travel documents obtained by Deborah Kuir Yach which state Riak’s birth year as 2009, in contrast with new documents claimed by Yach to be forgeries. In addition, before the wedding proceedings Riak had entered primary year 8, usually started at the age of 13.
A Viral Case; a Silent Bride
Despite outcry and debate, Athiak Dau Riak’s testimony remains notably absent from the media furor. This lack of comment, provides opportunity for both feminists and cultural relativists to weigh in on the events, finding justification or denunciation in the omission of the bride’s perspective. In highlighting this tension central to debates between those who argue for universal women’s rights, and those who defend cultural custom against the intrusion of the Western-borne system of international rights, the events of Juba, South Sudan indicate that whilst fighting for the individual activists can quickly lose sight of the individual.
Silence, in this circumstance, betrays the extent to which the bride is removed from the proceedings. Her voicelessness, whether child or adult, is indicative of societal position different to that of her father or husband. Her mother’s flight into exile reinforces this finding. Upon speaking up, Deborah Kuir Yach has faced the consequence of separation from her children. Objectification from Riak herself therefore seems an impossibility.
Through exploration of feminist, cultural relativist and international perspectives on child marriage, it might become possible to advocate for the rights of girls with respect for, but not deference to, cultural practices.
Who can give consent: age of majority vs. parental consent
The Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) defines a child as ‘every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.’ (UNCRC, UNICEF 2022). Under South Sudanese law, girls remain children until the age of 18 in line with the stipulations of the 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), which, unlike the UNCRC, unequivocally defines a child as ‘every human below the age of 18 years.’ (ACWRC, African Union 1990). Nonetheless, South Sudan is yet to ratify the treaty and according to Girls Not Brides 52% of South Sudanese girls marry before 18 and 9% before 15 (South Sudan, Girls Not Brides). This prevalence, despite the legal age of majority, indicates the difficulty of enforcing what is considered by many to be a ‘Western’ moral standard.
Yet to ratify the ACRWC, the South Sudanese case illustrates the limitations of legislation in states with comparatively weak legal frameworks. As the youngest country in the world, emerging from civil war and enduring the crises resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the impetus for child marriage is stronger than that of laws defending the rights of the children and girls. Customary law and tradition transcend the newly created state; the Dinka, constituting 40% of the South Sudanese population, have long-lived in the lands which now constitute the South Sudanese state. In this context, a marriage opposed on the basis of universal human rights, transcends and preserves pre-existing laws for others. Interestingly, Athiak Dau Riak’s father’s commitment to proving that his daughter is 19, betrays a recognition of the influence of international law existing alongside deference to Dinka tradition. This contradiction suggests that this marriage was motivated by more than respect of custom; true belief in the righteousness of the practice would not require age falsification.
The confrontation between women’s rights activists and cultural relativists over child marriage, extends beyond South Sudan. South Sudanese law contains no legal precedent for exceptions to the marriage age. Until the introduction of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act of 2022, this was not the case in the UK. Before the introduction of this law in February 2023, sixteen and seventeen year olds in England and Wales were able to marry with parental consent. With law previously authorising child marriage, the UK demonstrates that child marriage is not limited to states with weaker legal framework. Rather, comparison between South Sudanese law and UK law until 2023 indicates that states with stronger legal framework and provisions allowing child marriage can be interpreted as more directly contributing to the phenomenon.
Girlhood and womanhood: universal or culturally specific categories
Having considered definitions of childhood proposed by the UNCRC and the ACRWC, as well as laws of South Sudan and the UK, it is clear that distinctions drawn between girl and woman are, rightfully or wrongly, culturally contingent. This article has demonstrated that in the South Sudanese context, despite stricter legal definition of childhood offered by the law and the ACRWC, child marriage finds justification in tradition and is argued by Girls Not Brides to be encouraged, on a baser level, by poverty, conflict, and lack of educational opportunity (Girls Not Brides, South Sudan).
On the other hand, whilst the UNCRC’s definition of the child allows for state-based divergence, and UK law previously allowed child marriage with parental consent, the phenomenon is less prevalent. UK government statistics from 2022 indicate that of 302 cases of forced marriage, 88 victims were aged 17 and under (Forced Marriage Statistics, UK Government 2022). Whilst these statistic speak only to forced marriage, comparison with the statistic that 52% of South Sudanese women marry before 18 (Girls Not Brides, South Sudan) illustrates that context might have greater impact on prevalence of child marriage than the law.
Highlighting the greater influence of culture on the practice than legal stipulations demonstrates that law-making alone does not limit child marriage. This finding underlines the importance of embracing cultural relativism in order to understand why child marriage is not considered by some cultures to be an a-moral practice or abuse of girl’s rights. Through understanding, better action might be taken to eliminate the practice via education, or through the alleviation of global inequalities which make child marriage a desirable practice.