-1-

2nd Edition

The Bounty Mutiny then and now About Child Marriages

School protest against child marriage in India. Photo Ajay Kumar Sinha

The Mutiny of the Bounty is the story of licentciousness leading to mutiny and an escape thereafter of the miscreants to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean, later named Pitcairn Island. But the idyllic place turned into hell as a result of sexual depravity, fights and murders, until one of the survivors decided to read the Word of God and to start taking its message at heart. Thereafter the place turned idyllic again. As time went on, the lessons of the ancestors were forgotten, and in their isolated existence the Pitcairners could not resist the seduction of the flesh. The Biblical precepts were put aside and loose morals became the rule. Finally, after many years, New Zealands arm of justice reached out, and in 2004 six sturdy Pitcairners, or almost half the adult male population, were convicted of rape, indecent assault and gross indecency against Pitcairn girls, aged from five to fifteen. Sexual exploitation was deemed acceptable between adults and girls as from twelve years old. Asked why the guilty men did what they did, one source replied: Because they could. It is true, sexual depravity is engrained in human nature and seeks expression unless restrained by some form of moral order. We will now discuss the story of Pitcairn Island and then, in the notes and the appendices, turn our attention to the related problem of child marriage in different parts of the world.

1 The story of Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoes famous novel Robinson Crusoe, written at the beginning of the 18th century (1), tells how the hero, cast ashore on a desert island, discovered a Bible one day while sear-

-2-

2nd Edition

ching for medical supplies in a ships chest that had washed ashore. Upon opening it, his eyes lit upon the text of Psalm 50:15: Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. This invited him to go on reading. In the days that followed he became ever more convinced of the reprehensible nature of his earlier existence. Now (he wrote in his diary) I see the words call upon Me in the day of trouble in a totally different light from before; because then I had nothing else in mind than to be delivered from this island that had become to me a prison. But now I saw it differently. Now I looked back on my earlier life with such horror and my sins appeared to me so terrible that my soul begged God for nothing else than to be delivered from the burden of guilt that oppressed me

2 - On Pitcairn island
Daniel Defoe could not suspect that his story would come so close to real life when - still in the 18th century - a group of people found refuge on an unchartered island, a uninhabited steep rock shooting up from sea, a solitary spot in the huge vastness of the Pacific Ocean, a bulge that even today has no landing place. This group of people consisted of the mutineers of the Bounty together with their Polynesian companions who, on the run from the mighty arm of the English Admiralty, at last found a safe haven on what was later to be known as Pitcairn Island. It was there that nine mutineers, along with six men and twelve women (and a baby) from Polynesia, hid from the world and established a far from ideal society. The Bounty was set afire; escape had become impossible. There were many problems, though not because of food, shelter or climate; conflicts arose because fifteen men had to cope with twelve women and because the Westerners treated their native companions with contempt. Fornication, racism and greed caused havoc in which fighting, murder and manslaughter were the common ingredients. In our world it is taken for granted that the various films about the mutiny on the Bounty pay attention only to this part of the story, where the leader of the mutiny, a man named Fletcher Christian, is played by great actors like Marlon Brando, Mel Gibson or Clark Gable. The captain of the ship is always portrayed as a cruel tyrant, though this is not a fair picture. For sure, such a film offers great spectacle, guaranteed to attract large crowds.

3 - Conversion through reading the Bible

So it happened in 1799, nine years after Fletcher Christian took his party ashore, that after much bloodshed a number of women and children were left and only two men: former midshipman Edward Young and coarse sea dog Alexander Smith. Young decided to spend some time on improving Alexs reading , for apparently he had only benefited a very limited education. He knew very little about religion either. The main reading material happened to be the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, which until then had been hidden in a chest. The

-3-

2nd Edition

following year Young fell ill and died. Smith became ardently religious and, aided by his daily ration from the Bible, he gave his little community instruction and moral leadership.

4 - John Adams, formerly Alexander Smith

Smith, who changed his name to John Adams, wrote in his diary: If ever a man felt abandoned and in despair, it was Alexander Smith. I could not believe that there was any hope left for me. I thought that God wanted to destroy me and I wanted to throw me down from the large and steep cliff. But upon seeing three sleeping children nearby, I changed my mind. I like to remember that day. I was no Christian man. I do not know if I will ever deserve to be called by that name, but if it had not been Gods love that saved me, what could it have been otherwise? It must have been. He must have looked down on me and shown compassion because of the children. He had work to do for me. There is no other explanation. In one way or another the weight of my trouble had been taken from my heart and it would never again feel so painful and heavy as before. I took the Bible and started to read. If I had known what I know now, I would have gone straight to the New Testament, but it was probably better that I ploughed slowly and patiently like a mole in the dark. This I did for three years. I did not read it all. Some parts were too difficult for me, and I skipped them, but others, like Psalms and Proverbs, to those I returned, over and over again, until I knew the greater part by heart. I have heard of people who at once, in a day or a week, have been guided to the knowledge of God. That did not happen to me. I was slowly brought to it, but when I came to the life of Jesus, my heart opened as with a wide open door. When I became convinced that God is a loving and merciful Father to them who repent, it seemed to me that I could feel his presence and day by day I became more convinced of his guiding hand. I knew in the end that I had come to the way of Life - the only way. I was sure I had found it because of the peace that came to me and never left me again. In this way Psalm 119 came to be true (v. 105-108): Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much. Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word. Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your judgments.

-4-

2nd Edition

5 - Pitcairn community: devout Christianity

So, after having been involved in brawls, mutiny, murders, immorality and drunkenness, the last surviving Bounty mutineer turned to God. John Adams, in the tradition of a true patriarch, led the Pitcairn community into a period of pious Christianity and pristine innocence. And so they were found in 1808 by the first visiting ship, the Topaz from Boston. Robert Nicolson writes in his well documented book about the Pitcairners: What sort of community had come from its founding fathers? What life did they sow on this green island, this great rock, this tiny two-and-a-quarter mile spit of land, those men who died so violently and hideously behind its sheltering shores? there were forty descendants living on the island at the beginning of 1820 - twenty children and twenty grandchildren. And they, unknowing of their fathers dark past and bloody endings, or protected from their influence by the vision-inspired religion of John Adams, were a people of greater innocence than was possessed by either of their parents races, without traditions, background, or experience of either races civilization.

6 - How it all started

The somewhat strange discovery that was made by the Topaz, which happened to pass by, did not go unnoticed on the other side of the globe. The mutiny on the Bounty had raised plenty of dust in England and beyond, and the official inquiry was followed by everyone with the greatest attention. It all started in 1787 when HMS Bounty of the British Navy sailed to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit trees for the possible establishment of plantations in the Carribean region. The expedition was headed by 27-year-old William Bligh, who had acquired experience as navigation officer during one of James Cooks famous voyages of discovery. Unhappily, upon their arrival in Haiti it turned out to be the wrong season for the transportation of breadfruit trees. And so the ship was kept in idleness at anchor for six months in a row. During that period the men savoured in large measure all the pleasures of life, while the Polynesian women also did their bit. When it came time to sail back home, the crew did not want to know about it and Captain Bligh and eighteen of his loyal men were cast adrift in a cutter. He received a small stock of provisions and had to cope without maps. They virtually faced certain death. Yet they managed to reach Timor under the strict rule of Bligh - with all his men! - an unbelievable journey of 4,000 sea miles (7,400 kilometres). Later in life Bligh became once more a victim during the Rum Rebellion when he was imprisoned by soldiers. At the end of his career he retired with honour and appreciation after having reached the rank of rear-admiral.

7 - How did the Pitcairn community fare?

From 2002 onwards the public eye was again focused on the Pitcairn community, but not in a positive light, because of a child sex abuse trial, in one case involving a girl aged five. In September 2004 a court that undertook the long journey from New Zealand to Pitcairn, found six Pitcairners guilty of the charges. This sentence severely disrupted the community, which

-5-

2nd Edition

had a total population of only 47 souls, for those convicted were sturdy men who did the heavy work. They are now (2005) confined to prison, having been sentenced to a maximum of six years. Detective Inspector Robert Vinson, the chief investigating officer, said the judgements sent a strong message that the abuse of children is not acceptable in any culture, anywhere, and Pitcairn Island is no exception. Of course, in a period of two hundred years, many more descendants came forth from the original settlers, but the island cannot sustain more than 150 to 200 people comfortably. In fact, fewer than 100 is less desirable. Already John Adams was concerned about the problem of an approaching overpopulation problem that had to be resolved after his death. He died in 1829. Finally, in 1856, most of the inhabitants agreed to be evacuated with the help of the British Government to Norfolk Island, five thousand miles from Pitcairn and not too distant from New Zealand. Here there lives at present a substantial and thriving community who are proud to name themselves the descendants of the Fletcher Christian group. What about Pitcairn? Apparently the inhabitants were not able, in their isolated existence, to resist the seduction of the flesh. That it was usual on Pitcairn to have sexual intercourse with girls of twelve years old cannot be considered reprehensible in itself. In fact, it was only recently, in 1885, that England decided to increase the age for consensual sex for women from thirteen to sixteen. This was in an effort, then, to curtail the practice of prostitution. In Columbia and Peru the age of consent is still kept at twelve and in Canada at fourteen. In New Zealand, a place far away from Pitcairn, the minimum age of consent is in imitation of England set at sixteen. And, sadly enough, in Iran the age of marriage for girls has been set at the age of nine. (2)

Old Drawings Pitcairn Island

It is always possible to advance arguments of a cultural nature to justify sexual intercourse with young girls and to marry them off at an early age. Fact is that the acceptation of a low age dramatically increases the risk of sexual exploitation. How much freedom exists for a little girl of twelve confronted with an older man? It would be wrong to show too much respect for the cultural differences between nations. If we can believe the newspapers, the tragedy of sexual exploitation of children is not restricted to Pitcairn, for we are dealing here with a global problem that also affects Belgium and the Netherlands. (3) Hubert Luns
[published in De Brandende Lamp, a Dutch periodical, 3rd quarter 2005 - Nr. 103]

Over an eight-year period, photographer Stephanie Sinclair investigated the phenomenon of child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. The article, written by Cynthia Gorney, was published in the June 2011 issue of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. It synthesizes this body of work into a call to action. See: Too Young to Wed.National Geographic.June 2011.

-6-

2nd Edition

Notes
Who was Daniel Defoe? (1) In 1688 Daniel Defoe joined the party of William III on his way to England to remove King James from the throne. After a tumultuous life as a reporter, at a riper age he started to write works of fiction, of which Robinson Crusoe was to bring him lasting fame. Child marriage in Islamic countries (2) In several Muslim countries child marriages are legal. For many traditional Muslims, child marriages are acceptable because their prophet Mohammed married his favourite wife Aisha when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine. This is why, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Irans new rulers lowered the minimum age of marriage for girls to nine. Recently in India, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board attempted to gain an exemption for Muslims from the legal minimum marriage age of 18 set by Indian law. According to the Board, child marriages are part of sharia (Islamic law system) which is absolute, final and non-negotiable. Even in Britain it is possible that child marriages are happening: the Sharia Council of Darul Uloom London gives some rules for divorce on its website, one of which clearly indicates that the Council envisages the possibility of divorcing girls below the age of puberty. [from What is Sharia, a Barnabas Fund publication, 2007, downloadable at www.barnabasfund.org]

This is an impressive photo of a girl who was married as a child, seen here sitting in school, in the 7th grade. She is a Muslim and is wearing a band of the holy thread around her wrist, which is generally worn by Hindus. By learning to read she has hope for a future, giving her a certain measure of independence.

A survey of premature sexual relations in Belgium (3) BELGA news service, Brussels, Sept. 26, 2007: Statistics issued by the RIZIV (Rijksinstituut voor ziekte- en invaliditeitsvezekering State institute for sickness and invalidity insurance) show that in 2006 fifty-seven girls of ten years of age were prescribed a contraceptive pill. The Huisarts medical journal wondered if a doctor can ethically prescribe the pill for such young girls. This poses an extremely difficult ethical problem whereby neither GPs, gynaecologists nor paediatricians can fall back on guidelines, it is stated. The RIZIVs figures show that it is extremely infrequent but it does happen that children are prescribed hormonal contraceptives for systematic use. In the 14-15 year age group there are even a great many users of the pill (3,585 14-year-olds and 10,043 15-year-olds on a total population of 10.5 million). In addition, data published by Farmanet show that 3,911 doctors prescribe the pill at least once per year to a girl aged between 10 and 14. It is mainly GPs who do this (2,993), but

-7-

2nd Edition

gynaecologists (709) and paediatricians (67) also issue prescriptions for oral contraceptives. This is often an extremely difficult decision for the doctor. In fact, explains Lieve Peremans, GP and expert in the matter, there is no guideline as to starting age. Peremans states that the doctor should first try to encourage the patient to postpone taking oral contraceptives. If that fails to work, the doctor is confronted with a difficult decision weighing up the use of the pill against the risk of an unplanned pregnancy, she says. And the latter constitutes a far greater trauma than use of contraceptives. She believes that things are different when 12- to 14-year-olds are involved. Unlike 10-yearolds, they can decide themselves without intervention on the part of the parents. For some girls, then, the option of the pill can even be a positive choice. And there can also be medical reasons for prescribing the pill for a young girl, such as irregular periods. It would be interesting to divide the girls of 10 and 11 using the pill into ethnic and/or religious groups. In view of the different life-styles of Western and non-Western communities, each of which have undergone a centuries-long process of formation based on their religious convictions, the one mainly Christian and the other mainly Muslim, it would not be surprising if such an investigation were to show that the greater majority of the girls are from a nonWestern and different religious background. In this context it would also be interesting to investigate how many births and abortions occur in girls younger than 14.

India, Sept. 14 2007: Two brothers are married to underage girls. There is a great difference in age between the grooms and their future lifepartners. - Photos by Ajay Kumar Sinha -

Marriage of a five years old groom with similar bride Photo Ajay Kumar Sinha

-8-

2nd Edition

.APPENDIX.

Yemen: New law moves to reduce child marriages

Sanaa, 12 Feb. 2009 (AKI) - A new law passed in Yemen gives women greater legal protection, in relation to marriage and motherhood. The law raises the minimum age for marriage to 17, and provides for the right to alimony and recognition of the mother as the sole guardian of her children. Despite penalties for anyone who violates the law, it appears that it will allow some girls under the age of 17 to be married if a judge rules the marriage is in the best interest of the child. A Yemeni Islamist deputy said restrictions outlined under the new law were not consistent with Islamic Sharia law. It is not possible to clearly define the minimum age for marriage, because it all depends on the level of maturity of the spouse, from a physical and mental point of view, said Zayd al-Shami, quoted by pan-Arab daily al-Quds al Arabi. To define marriage age in such a specific manner is in clear contrast to Islamic Sharia law. According to the English-language Yemen Times, the parliament also passed an amendment concerning women and children in two laws. The amendments include facilitating pre-marital medical checks to determine genetic faults, dangerous diseases or health risks, as well as restricting polygamy to the husband's ability to support more than one family. Fairness is included in all aspects, such as time spent with each wife, housing and logistics, said the Yemen Times. The first wife also has to be legally notified of his intention of marrying another to allow them to make future decisions. Other amendments included a womens right to alimony for her children once a divorce has taken place and the custody of children to be exclusively granted to the mother for the first twelve years of the childrens life. The new amendments also recognise the mother as the sole guardian of orphaned children, providing that is approved by a judge.

Yemeni girls, just below the age of marriage

Over half the women who marry in Yemen are under 15 years of age, according to a report in 2008 carried out by Yemen's Women and Development Study Centre. According to the statistics 52 percent of young girls were married as children in Yemen, compared to less than seven percent of boys. In rural areas of Yemen, girls are usually married when they are 12 or 13 years old. (See also youtube movie from July 2013: 11-Year Old Yemenite Girl Flees to Avoid Marriage.)

-9-

2nd Edition

It is easy to understand why because of these young marriages Yemen has one of the worlds fastest-growing populations in the world. In 1950 its population counted 8 million. Sixty years later it was 24 million. The land cannot provide any more for its people. The most urgent need is water. Yemen faces a chronic water shortage. Replenishable aquifers are being pumped well beyond the rate of recharge, and the deeper fossil aquifers are also being rapidly depleted. Water tables are falling throughout Yemen by about two metres per year. In its capital, Sana'a home to 2 million people tap water is available only once every four days. In Taiz, a smaller city to the south, it is once every 20 days. With water tables falling, the grain harvest has shrunk by one-third over the last 40 years, while demand has continued its steady rise. As a result, the Yemenites import more than 80% of their grain. With its meagre oil exports falling, with no industry to speak of, and with nearly 60% of its children physically stunted and chronically undernourished, this poorest of the Arab countries is facing a bleak future.
Source: This will be the Arab worlds next battle - Population growth and water supply are on a collision course. Hunger is set to become the main issue, by Lester Brown - Main section section of the Guardian # Saturday 23 April 2011 (p. 32).

See next pages:

Photo reportage from the National Geographic issue of June 2011 Entitled: Too Young to Wed

For an overvieww of the initiative of TOO YOUNG to WED, with an impressive documentary, see: http://tooyoungtowed.org/

- 10 -

2nd Edition

Nujood Ali was ten when she fled her abusive, much older husband and took a taxi to the courthouse in Sanaa, Yemen. The girls courageous act and the landmark legal battle that ensued turned her into an international heroine for womens rights. Now divorced, she is back home with her family and atternding school again.

- 11 -

2nd Edition

After celebrating with female relatives at a wedding party, Yemeni brides Sidaba and Galiyaah are veiled and escorted to a new life with their husbands. Some rural girls see marriage as saving themselves from the control of their families, says an activist in the capital, Sanaa.

- 12 -

2nd Edition

This group of young brides in a village in western Yemen were quiet and shy until talk turned to education. Most of the girls, who were married between the ages of 14 and 16, had never attended school, but all say they still hope for an education.

- 13 -

2nd Edition

Asia, a 14-year-old mother, washes her new baby girl at home in Hjjah while her 2year-old daughter plays. Asia is still bleeding and ill from childbirth yet has no education or access to information on how to care for herself.

- 14 -

2nd Edition

Whenever I saw him, I hid. I hated to see him, Tahani (in pink) recalls of the early days of her marriage to Majed, when she was 6 and he was 25. The young wife posed for this portrait with former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajjah.

- 15 -

2nd Edition

Kandahar policewoman Mallalai Kakar arrests a man who repeatedly stabbed his wife, 15, for disobeying him. Nothing, Kakar said, when asked what would happen to her husband. Men are kings here. Kakar was later killed by the Taliban.

- 16 -

2nd Edition

Long after midnight, five-year-old Rajani is roused from sleep and carried by her uncle to her wedding. Child marriage is illegal in India, so ceremonies are often held in the wee hours of morning. It becomes a secret the whole village keeps, explained one farmer.

- 17 -

2nd Edition

Rajani and her boy groom barely look at each other as they are married in front of the sacred fire. By tradition, the young bride is expected to live at home until puberty, when a second ceremony transfers her to her husband.

- 18 -

2nd Edition

Although early marriage is the norm in her small Nepali village, 16-year-old Surita wails in protest as she leaves her familys home, shielded by a traditional wedding umbrella and carried in a cart to her new husbands village.

- 19 -

2nd Edition

When Sunils parents arranged for her marriage at age 11, she threatened to report them to police in Rajasthan, India. They relented, and Sunil, now 13, stayed in school. Studying will give her a edge against others, her mother now says.