Heartbreaking Story of Sessay Mamma : A #Calltostop

My heart bleeds when I heard about the story of Sessay Mamma. I imagined what she would have passed through during labour. I wished I could hear her say her last word .I am sure her last words would be full of grieve and sorrow. It is very certain, She would not be thankful to her parents nor appreciate the fact that she was forced into early marriage which led to her demise.

Photo Credit:Lynsey Addario/Reportage by Getty Images

Sessay was from Sierra Leone. She was fourteen when they gave her hand in marriage. All efforts to prevent this irrational act proved abortive. Her dream to earn a degree and contribute to national development was dashed to pieces. 

There are many girls like Sessay who had lost their lives to untimely death and more of such are still happening especially in South Asia ,West and Sub-Sahara Africa and their parents, family and the community failed to picture their future and we also contribute to the menace by KEEPING SILENT

These girls’ bodies are usually not prepared for child birth. This accounts for high maternal and infant mortality rates. This also account for Vesicovaginal Fistula or VVF in the little bride.  According to Wikipedia.org, VVF is an abnormal fistulous tract extending between the bladder (or vesico) and the vagina that allows the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault.

Forced and child marriages deprive women and young girls in the relationships their basic human rights. Victims become isolated from peers, their education becomes interrupted and most times, result in violence or probably death. The victim becomes frustrated, grow bitterness and arrange for the death of the husband or herself. They usually find it difficult to stabilise emotionally after the incidence. 

Statistics

• One third of girls in the developing world are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15
• 700 million women around the world had been married before the age of 15
• An average of 14.2 million girls are likely to marry each year.
• Countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage are concentrated in Western and Sub-Saharan Africa, due to population size, the largest number of child brides reside in South Asia.

#CalltoStop

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Insights: www.npr.org