Abstract
Social norms, the often unspoken rules that dictate behavior, are increasingly understood to play a role in child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) practices, but are less frequently examined in quantitative research on CEFM. No research on this topic has focused on Niger, despite the country having the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. This study examines the associations of community and individual-level norms on marital age and marital choice with the outcomes of girls' age at marriage and choice in marriage. We used data from a family planning evaluation trial conducted in three districts within the Dosso region of Niger. Survey data were collected from adolescent wives and their husbands (N = 582) on demographics, normative beliefs regarding girls' age at marriage and marital choice, and among wives, age at marriage and engagement in marital choice. We developed our community-level norm variables by using the aggregate data from husbands' and wives' norms and wives' CEFM experiences. Using crude and adjusted regression models, we assessed the associations between our norms variables and our CEFM outcomes. In this context of very high prevalence of CEFM, we found that village-level norms related to marital choice, particularly the norms of men, are associated with younger age of girls at marriage. We also found that younger age of girls at marriage is positively associated with lower likelihood of their engagement in marital choice. Further, we find that village-level norms related to a later age of marriage and support for marital choice, as well as adolescent wives' perceptions of community norms related to a higher age of marriage, are associated with higher odds of a wife having had marital choice. These findings suggest the value of community level social norms change on CEFM in Niger, and the importance of focusing on child marriage and girls’ marital choice simultaneously given their interconnection.
Highlights
Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) is an internationallyrecognized human rights violation that disproportionately affects women and girls globally (UNICEF-UNFPA, May 2019; United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, 2019)
This study analyzed community and individual level norms related to early marriage of girls and girls’ marital choice in rural Niger, with a sample of adolescent wives and their husbands
In this context of very high rates of child and early marriage we found that village-level norms related to marital choice, the norms of men, may be a key driver of child and early marriage
Summary
Early and forced marriage (CEFM) is an internationallyrecognized human rights violation that disproportionately affects women and girls globally (UNICEF-UNFPA, May 2019; United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, 2019). Given the health and social risks associated with this practice, the elimination of child mar riage by 2030 has been included among the internationally-recognized Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted by more than 190 countries in 2015 (United Nations, 2016). Social norms reinforcing CEFM have been hypothesized as underlying these practices and are a potential lever for change (Bicchieri et al, 2014; Fenn et al, 2015; Heise et al, 2019; Shakya et al, 2018; Steinhaus et al, 2019; Taylor et al, 2019; UNI CEF-UNFPA, May 2019). While rates of early marriage have decreased in countries around the world over the past few decades (Jackson, 2012), the rate of early marriage has changed very little in Niger (Fenn et al, 2015)
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