183
period 1999-2002 the maternal mortality ratio MMR was between 1,600 and 2,200. If we assume for a moment that in the period 1970-2000 the MMR was 2,000 and the Total Fertility Rate
58
was around 7, then the lifetime risk of maternal mortality can be approximated to be 14,000 per 100,000 women;
which means that in those days almost one in seven women would have died during pregnancy and childbirth. Obviously, this would have had a direct effect on the number of women who survive beyond
age 50 and would seriously distort the current sex ratios at older ages. Unfortunately, data are not available to unravel the effect of seclusion and maternal mortality on the sex
ratios. Fact is that both factors are closely connected to the situation of women in society and are proof of the difficult position of women.
11.2.2 Head of household In the ALCS 2013-
14 the head of household was defined as ‘
the person commonly regarded by the household members as their head. The head would usually be the main income earner and decision
maker for the household, but you should accept the decision of the household members as to who they
consider their head’ ALCS 1392-1393, Interviewer Manual, p.8. According to the ALCS 2013-14 only one percent of all households are headed by a female. Little
variation exist between age groups. The age group with the highest percentage of female heads is 60-64 years with 1.7 percent of households being led by a woman.
11.2.3 Child marriage Girls who are given in marriage at a very young age are denied their youth and being cut off from their
families, they frequently suffer from social isolation, lack of education and limited chances on the labour market. Because of the often large age differences with the husband see also section 3.4.3, these girls
are forced into a subordinate role in the family, with little negotiating power in terms of sexuality and fertility decisions. Early fertility is a major cause of childbirth complications, poor health of both mother
and child and maternal mortality. Forced marriage of girls at a very young age is a clear manifestation of gender discrimination having an important impact on the emotional and physical wellbeing of young
women. Afghanistan has a tradition of very early marriage for girls with a significant proportion of women being
given in marriage by the family as child brides. Currently, legal age at marriage in Afghanistan is set at 16 for women and at 18 for men. However, an exception is made if the woman has not reached age
sixteen, in which case permission can be granted by her father or through a competent court LandInfo 2011, p.8. However, marriage of girls below the age of fifteen is strictly forbidden.
As discussed earlier, marriage for women in Afghanistan is almost universal with a very young pattern of first marriage. At age 50, only 9 per thousand of all women have never been married.
59
The proportion of never-married men is even smaller: only 3 per thousand of all men had never been married at exact
age 50.
Figure 11.2
depicts the percentage of women 20 to 59 years, who married respectively before ages 16, 18 and 20. Age 16 was selected because this is the legal minimum age at marriage. According
to the UNICEF definition, child marriage occurs when a person, male or female, enters a formal
58
The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the TFR for Afghanistan was around 7.5 in 1970 http:www.prb.orgDataFinder
59
To calculate the proportion at exact age 50, we took the average of the proportion never married between the age groups 45-49 and 50 - 54 years of age.
184
marriage or informal union before the age of consent of 18 years
60
. To measure the level of child marriage in Afghanistan the cut-off age of 18 years was included in Figure 11.2 as one of the categories.
Figure 11.2: Percentage of women 20-59 years of age who married before ages 16, 18 and 20, by age five-year age group
There is evidence that the number of girls who marry before the age of 16 is declining. The age group with the highest percentage of very young brides is between 35-39 years of age; 29.4 percent of women
who were in this age group at the time of the survey were married before age 16. These women were at a very young age during the time when the Taliban were establishing their power over the country. One
can clearly see the reduction in the marriages before age 16 in the three consecutive five year age groups between 20 and 35. In these age groups the proportion of girls who were given in marriage below the
age of 16 were respectively 21.4 30-34 years and 19.4 percent 25-29 years. Important progress seems to be made in recent years. The percentage of 20 to 24 year olds who married before age 16 has dropped
to 12.1 percent. A similar trend can be observed with the percentage of child marriages before age 18. Among women
currently aged 35 to 39, 61.9 percent married before their 18th birthday. For women who were between 20 and 24 years of age at the time of the ALCS 2013-14, this percentage was 32.8 percent. This means
that during a period of about fifteen years, the proportion of women who entered marriage as a child bride has almost been cut in half. Also the proportion of women who marry before the age of 20 has
come down significantly in recent years.
11.2.4 Polygamy In its International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations take a clear stand on the
issue of polygamy and women ’s rights: ‘
States should provide information on these laws and practices and on the measures taken to abolish the laws and eradicate the practices which undermine the right of
women to marry only when they have given free and full consent. It should also be noted that equality of treatment with regard to the right to marry implies that polygamy is incompatible with this principle.
60
http:www.unicef.orgprotection57929_58008.html 10
20 30
40 50
60 70
80 90
100
20-24 25-29
30-34 35-39
40-44 45-49
50-54 55-59
Beforeage 16 Before age 18
Before age 20
185
Polygamy violates the dignity of women. It is an inadmissible discrimination against women.
Consequently, it should be definitely abolished wherever it continues to exist’ CCPR, Human Rights Committee 2000
.
To measure the current occurrence of polygamy in Afghanistan, the ALCS 2013-14 included a question, asked to all ever married women, 14 years of age and older, whether the husband
had more wives. According to the results, 7.8 percent of all married women lived in a polygamous union.
Figure 11.3
shows the percentage of ever-married women whose husband has more wives, by 5-year age groups. Percentages are highest between ages 35 and 45 where about 11 percent of women are co-
wives. Values are lowest between ages 15 and 25 when less than 3 percent of women live in a polygamous union. Apparently, the percentage of women living in a polygamous union drops after age
65. It is unclear why this is the case. The report on marriage patterns in Afghanistan by the Norwegian ‘The Country of Origin Information Centre’ Landinfo 2011 cites different sources that indicate that
the number of polygamous unions has increased in recent decades due to the large number of young widows caused by violent conflict. This would explain the lower percentages of women above age 65
who were in a polygamous union.
Figure 11.3: Percentage of ever-married women who live in a polygamous union, by five-year age group
There is some evidence that in Afghanistan women who live in a polygamous union have a lower level of happiness than those in a monogamous union. In the ALCS a very general question was asked about
the level of happiness of women: ‘If you were asked to rate how content you are with your life, how
would you rate it
?’. The possible answers to this question were: 1 Very happy, 2 Happy, 3 Neither happy, nor unhappy, 4 Unhappy, 5 Very Unhappy, 6 Dont know and 7 Refused to answer.
Table 11.1
presents the percentages of all ever- married women who stated they were ‘very happyhappy’ and
those who stated they were ’unhappyvery unhappy’ by polygamous status of the marriage. Among women who were in a monogamous union, 75.8 percent indicated they were either happy or very happy,
against 58.9 percent of women whose husband had more wives; 11.4 percent of these women indicated they were unhappy or very unhappy against only 4.4 percent of those in a monogamous marriage.
8.5
2.7 2.9
5.6 9.8
11.1 11.3 9.0
9.6 9.4
10.9
7.8 6.5
8.9 8.0
4.5
2 4
6 8
10 12
10-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-84 85+ P
er cen
tag e
Age
186
Table 11.1: Degree of happiness of ever married women by polygamous status
Degree of happiness Only one wife
More wives Total
100.00 100.00
Very happy and happy 75.8
59.7 Neither happy nor unhappy
19.8 28.9
Unhappy and very unhappy 4.4
11.4
11.3 The gender education gap
