The term ‘child marriage’ refers to any formal marriage or informal union where at least one of the parties is under 18 years old. The term ‘forced marriage’, on the other hand, refers to a marriage in which one or both parties have not personally expressed their full and free consent to the union. This is why child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage.
Although its practice has decreased worldwide, child marriages remain widespread, and are particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. COVID-19 has only worsened this situation: before the pandemic, more than 100 million girls were expected to marry before their eighteenth birthday in the next decade; now, up to 10 million more girls will be at risk of becoming child brides as a result of the pandemic. Indeed, school closures, rising poverty, service disruptions, pregnancy, and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.
While the roots of the practice vary across countries and cultures, poverty, lack of educational opportunities and limited access to health care perpetuate it. Some families marry off their daughters to reduce their economic burden or earn income. Others may do so because they believe it will secure their daughters’ futures or protect them, or even to protect family honor. Norms and stereotypes around gender roles and marriage age, as well as the socio-economic risk of pregnancy outside of marriage, also uphold the practice. Child marriage is often the result of rooted gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. However, while the practice is more common among girls than boys, it is a violation of human rights regardless of sex.
This practice robs kids of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school, and therefore they have worse economic and health outcomes than their unmarried peers. Child brides often become pregnant during adolescence, when the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth increases, for themselves and their infants. The practice can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities. Although the impact on child grooms has not been extensively studied, marriage may similarly place boys in an adult role for which they are unprepared, and may place economic pressures on them and curtail their opportunities for further education or career advancement.
Progressive legal frameworks are one element of a comprehensive response to address child marriage. However, any legal change to address child marriage has to be accompanied by a comprehensive approach supported by laws, policies and programs that put the autonomy and the rights of girls at the center.
There is no single solution, actor or sector to end child marriage: we must all work together. To make changes at scale, international bodies, governments, and political and faith leaders need to come together and commit to putting human rights standards into action all over the world. This means targeted investments and programming to empower girls and invest in their agency and participation. It means mobilizing families and communities to change attitudes and behaviors related to child marriage. It means ensuring girls and women have access to quality education, sexual and reproductive health care, gender-responsive social protection systems and a fair and equal labor market.
SOURCES USED:
Girls Not Brides, The law and child marriage, available at: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/about-child-marriage/law-and-child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF, Child marriage, available at: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage (accessed 04/04/2021); UNICEF DATA, Child marriage, available at: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF, Child marriage, available at: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF, 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage due to COVID-19, ‘Press Release’, available at: ’https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/10-million-additional-girls-risk-child-marriage-due-covid-19 (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF, Child marriage, available at: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage (accessed 04/04/2021); UNICEF DATA, Child marriage, available at: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF DATA, Child marriage, available at: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF, Child marriage, available at: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage (accessed 04/04/2021).
UNICEF DATA, Child marriage, available at: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
Girls Not Brides, The law and child marriage, available at: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/about-child-marriage/law-and-child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021).
Girls Not Brides, How ro end it, available at: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/about-child-marriage/how-to-end-child-marriage/ (accessed 04/04/2021); Girls Not Brides, Theory of Change, available at: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/theory-change/?_ga=2.126653453.1630655380.1617724846-2095657821.1616942492 (accessed 07/04/2021).
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