46. In some cultures, parents worry about protecting their daughters' virginity. The child marriage is thus seen as a protective mechanism against premarital sexual activity, which in fact is not correct. 47. I attach hereto marked Annexure 'B' the August 2014 Human Rights Bulletin headed "Child Marriages" in respect of which some of these issues are captured. Annexure 'C' herein, is an article available and downloaded from www.unicef~irc.org/publications/pdf/digest.pdf published an Innocent Digest No. 7 March 2001 headed "Early Marriage: Child Spouses" published by the Innocent Research Centre of Florence Italy which again outlines some of the causes. DAMAGING EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGES 48. Clearly the most damaging effect of child marriages is simply the fact that they rob children of the beauty of childhood and cast upon these beautiful creatures the obligation of parenthood and family life on extremely vulnerable persons. 49. Indeed, child marriage cuts off the freedom of being young and all the pain, pleasure and joy that comes with it. Being young is a protected human right on its own as is reflected in our Constitution. 50. More importantly, child marriages decapitate educational opportunities and the prospect for personal growth. The statistics again show that once a child has been married, particularly the girl child, that is generally the end and closure of her educational attendances. The girl child thus becomes the girl mother who quickly becomes a girl 13