This is not an arrange marriage, it is abuse

This is not an arranged marriage, it is abused. Every culture has its definition of what is acceptable within how they perceive themselves, and in most part, they are right. Society will mostly tolerate how people and their cultural impact us.

I am not here to judge or to cast aspiration on how other people live within the confines of their culture; however, I cannot, in all honesty, see where it is acceptable for a fifteen-year-old child to be forced into an arranged marriage or what can she bring to that marriage apart from naivety.

These individuals that force their daughters to be married at that age are damaging the child, and in my opinion, this is child abuse. I cannot understand the mentality of the people who would allow their children to have to endure this out-dated and ridiculous tradition.

To read about the torture that this child endures in what is supposed to be an arranged marriage is unacceptable to society, and the people who perpetrate this vile behaviour should be charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment of a minor and put in prison where they belong.

Understandably, life in countries such as Afghanistan must be complicated to tolerate. The citizen have to endure problems that we should not see in the 21^st century and irrespective of the wars that have been fought to improve the lives of these people, no one can honestly say that they are better off than before the war.

But, that is no justification for a mother or father, for that matter, to hand over their child to some paedophile because that is exactly what those men are who believe that it is acceptable for them to marry children so young.  They may be of the impression that having a young wife is cool; it is not it is disgraceful behaviour, and irrespective of what tradition exists within the culture, there should be an acceptable boundary that one does not cross and taking a child of that age for a wife is crossing the boundary.

I am pleased that the Afghanistan government find the behaviour of these individuals repugnant and that they will not only use words but put in place legislation to prevent these underage marriages from continuing in the country,