IMPLICATION OF MONEY AND DEBT MARRIAGE: DEFINING NEW PATHWAYS FOR THE GIRL-CHILD IN BECHEVE COMMUNITY, OBANLIKU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA
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Abstract
Marriage confers contractual obligations to the parties in marriage, and where it negates constitutional right it creates imbalances in the relationship and society. Forced, or debt/ money marriage and child marriage are common practices in most primitive societies in Africa, used for the debt settlement. It is against this backdrop that this study examines the sociological implications of this unwholesome lifelong cultural practice on the girl child in Becheve community, Obanliku Local Government Area, Cross River State. The study employed mixed research designs and a sample size of 550 respondents was drawn using stratified sampling, purposive sampling, and snowballing techniques. The data was collected using consolidated questionnaire, Key Informant Interview (KII), and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). While the descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, the thematic and narrative analysis were used for the qualitative data. The study revealed five key socio-economic implications, including physiological/emotional trauma, fundamental right abuses, denial of educational employment opportunity, physical and gender-based assault and health issues. The study recommends that government should mobilize families and the wider community to raise awareness of the harmful consequences of money/debt marriage as well as child marriage, and encouraging structural policy formulation and right of spousal selection among girls. And strengthen legal instruments to protect the girl child.
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