Child Marriage, Russia´s Position.

Official Name:                       Russian Federation

Capital:                                   Moscow

President:                               Vladimir Putin

Government Type:                 Semi-presidential federation

Official Language:                  Russian

Population:                             142, 423, 773 hab

Area:                                       17, 098, 242 sq km

Coin:                                       Russian Ruble

GDP:                                       $3.718 trillion US dollars

Religion:                                 Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2%

ONU Member since:              1945 as USSR; 1992 as Russia

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new ROMANOV Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific.

Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household.

The communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. After defeating Germany in World War II as part of an alliance with the US (1939-1945), the USSR expanded its territory and influence in Eastern Europe and emerged as a global power.

The USSR was the principal adversary of the US during the Cold War (1947-1991). The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the decades following Stalin’s rule, until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics.

Following economic and political turmoil during President Boris YELTSIN's term (1991-99), Russia shifted toward a centralized authoritarian state under the leadership of President Vladimir PUTIN (2000-2008, 2012-present) in which the regime seeks to legitimize its rule through managed elections, populist appeals, a foreign policy focused on enhancing the country's geopolitical influence, and commodity-based economic growth. Russia faces a largely subdued rebel movement in Chechnya and some other surrounding regions, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

Committee: Human Rights Council

Topic: Child Marriage

The measures on Child Marriage, is the topic we are going to discuss in this United Nations Model. Child marriage can be defined as any formal marriage, or informal union in which one or both of the parties is under 18 years of age.

This is considered in some places as a tradition and it simply happens because it has been practiced over generations. In other cases, parents marry their own daughters at a young age in order to ensure her safety; this happens mostly in areas where girls have a higher risk of suffering harassment or physical and sexual assault. Child marriage is also linked to the religion; Muslims are married or engaged at a very young age.

Many organizations have gathered together and agreed that there are four principal solutions to this problem, which are: powering girls, mobilizing families and communities, providing services and establishing and implementing laws and policies in each country.

Child marriage is a problem that concerns everyone, it can be found all over the world, from Middle East to Latin America, South Asia to Europe, Australia to North America. In recent years child marriage has gained increasing prominence on international and national development agendas. This problem happens across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. Child marriage is fuelled by gender inequality, poverty, traditions, and insecurity. Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is 28 girls every minute.1 every 2 seconds.

Nevertheless, child marriage looks different from one community to the next. Solutions must be local and contextual

Russia still has regions where there is a tradition of marriage between children. Nevertheless, the minimum legal marriage age in Russia is 18 under Section 13 of the Russian Family Code. In some circumstances local authorities can allow the parties to marry if they have reached the age of 16. These circumstances embrace cases such as life threat, pregnancy and childbirth.

According to the report by the Statistics Service of the Russian Federation the most popular age for marriage in Russia is from eighteen up to twenty-five years old for women and from twenty five up to thirty for men. 

In Russia, the allowed marriage age has changed over the years; initially in 1744 the marriage age for brides was 13 and 15 for grooms. In 1830, Tsar Nicholas I increased the marriage age for both men and women by three years. On November 3, 1965 the United Nations recommended the minimum marriage age be not less than 15. Now days, 27 constituent entities of Russian Federation had adopted laws reducing the minimum marriage age, to the age of sixteen in some circumstances.  

                  A girl who is married as a child is one whose potential will not be fulfilled. Since many parents and communities also want the very best for their daughters, we must work together and end child marriage. Medically speaking, complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death in young women aged 15-19. Therefore, child marriage is exposing them to the risks of too-early pregnancy, child bearing, and motherhood before they are physically and psychologically ready. Young girls who marry later and delay pregnancy beyond their adolescence have more chances to stay healthier, to better their education and build a better life for themselves and their families; the age at first marriage in Russia is around 24.9 years old. Child marriage, also increase the risk of intimate partner sexual violence and HIV infection; they are young girls therefore, they are powerless to refuse sex and experience the lack of resources or legal and social support to leave an abusive marriage. In ancient Russia, a fifteen year-old girl was considered to be mature enough for adult life and giving birth to children. Marriages were arranged and were a matter of practicality with the emphasis not being on romance. Nowadays the majority of young men and women in Russia prefer not to rush to marriage and such trend has gained popularity: prior to marriage, the future spouses strive to receive good education, find a decent job and achieve the first successes in their careers. By the time of marriage and the birth of children, the young families have their lives arranged and are able to support themselves financially.

                  Child marriage is an appalling violation of human rights and robs girls of their education, health and their aspirations. Yet today millions of girls are denied their rights each year when they are married as child brides. If child marriage is not properly addressed, UN Millennium Development Goals 4 & 5 will not be met. This is why, child marriage concerns all of us; we should all start implementing laws, to prohibit marriage bellow the age of 18; give equal education to boys and girls, in order to teach them about their sexuality; and make these laws enforced in every country around the world. Child marriage not only harms a girl psychologically; it can also harm them physiologically by having complications at pregnancy, sexual violence and HIV infection; and most of all, the girls potential will not be fulfilled. Ending with child marriage will help us reduce HIV infection and adolescence deaths du to pregnancy; but most of all, we are stopping and protecting girls, who are being stripped of their rights under domestic and international law and whose life and opportunities will be irrevocably altered. 

RESOURCES:

1.     Tanya Lokoshina. Dispatches: Will Russia Protect A Child Bride? Human Rights Watch. Found on: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/13/dispatches-will-russia-protect-child-bride

2.     Secretary General´s Envoy on Youth. Child Marriages: 39,000 Every Day – More than 140 million girls will marry between 2011 and 2020. [organization] Found on: http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2013/09/child-marriages-39000-every-day-more-than-140-million-girls-will-marry-between-2011-and-2020/#prettyPhoto

3.     Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. (2016) Report Cites Child Marriage For Girls As Major Problem. [radio] Found on: http://www.rferl.org/a/child-marriage-unicef-report/28045141.html

4.     Master Russian. The Russian Family and Marriage. Found on: http://masterrussian.com/russianculture/russian_family.htm

5.     Equalitynow. Child marriage factsheet. Found on: http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Child%20Marraige%20Fact%20Sheet_0.pdf

6.     Impowr.org (2012) Role of Traditions: Marriage or Child Marriage in Russian Federation. Found on: http://www.impowr.org/content/role-traditions-marriage-or-child-marriage-russian-federation

7.     Family law and divorce in Russia (2014) The Chechen Wedding. Found on: http://divorceinrussia.com/child-marriage-polygamy-in-russia/