Ending Child Marriage Research Articles

Growing Up Married (2016): representing forced marriage on screen

ABSTRACTAccording to the UNICEF report entitled ‘Ending Child Marriage: Progress and Prospects’ (2014), there are 700 million women who were married as children, and 280 million girls are at risk of becoming child brides. In Turkey, according to the reports written by feminist organisations 1 in 3 marriages there is a child. These figures are alarming and signal the need for further and urgent research in the field. In 2016 I made my first ever film entitled Growing Up Married. The film explores what happens after child marriage by focusing on the stories of four women from Turkey and making their experiences visible and audible, in an attempt to contribute to and advance debates around this significant, complex and emotionally charged human rights issue which has often been discursively silenced. Working on a documentary film on forced marriage in Turkey poses challenges to me as a UK-trained and based academic, who focuses on theories around feminism and media rather than filmmaking practice. In this article, I critically reflect upon the process of making a documentary film, and theories around interviewing women to examine the tensions inherent within representing forced marriage on screen.

Multi-Country Analysis of Child Marriage Laws and Policy Instruments in Africa

This paper is informed by the findings and recommendations of the UN Women East and Southern Africa led Multi-Country Analytical Study of Legislation, Policies, Interventions and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa which undertaken in 2018. The study focused on Africa as a continent but synchronised into 10 study countries (Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco). It is undoubtable that child marriage is not only a regional challenge but also a global nightmare that every treaty, convention, protocol or agreement condemn. Succinctly, the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the International Conference on Population and Development of 1994 are among the leading policy instruments that advance the human rights of children and thus are critical for ending child marriage. In this analysis, the paper underscores the critical role that such legal and policy frameworks perform in transforming toxic norms across the continent and beyond to deliver the human rights of women and girls with a particular focus on country legal frameworks and policies. In a snapshot, the paper focuses on relevant laws and regulations reported in the study including those that set the minimum age for marriage at 18 years for both/either girls and boys; requirements for birth and marriage registration; sexual violence and domestic violence laws; anti-corruption laws; and family status laws regulating marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance. Keywords: Child marriage, Child bride, age of marriage, prevalence, CEDAW, survivors, Bejing Platform for Action, UN Women, policy instruments, women and girls, constitution, customary laws, children, laws, religion, society, family code, criminal code, penal code, legal system, Africa, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco. DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/51-07 Publication date :September 30 th 2019

A simple approach to measuring the share of early childbirths likely due to child marriage in developing countries

Child marriage has large negative effects on the girls who marry early and their children, as well as communities and societies as a whole. Ending child marriage is a target under the Sustainable Development Goals, but investments to delay the age at first marriage remain limited in countries where child marriage is widespread. As part of a broader argument to make the economic case for ending child marriage, this article provides a simple approach for measuring the share of early childbirths likely due to child marriage in developing countries. This estimation matters because many of the negative impacts of child marriage on development outcomes for the girls who marry early and their children are through early childbirths—having a child before the age of 18 (for a mother), or being born of a mother younger than 18 (for a child). The estimates provided in this article suggest that most early childbirths in developing countries are likely due to child marriage.

Multi-Country Analysis of Effects and Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa

This paper is drawn from the findings and recommendations of the UN Women East and Southern Africa led Multi-Country Analytical Study of Legislation, Policies, Interventions and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa undertaken in 2018. The study focused on Africa as a continent but with a deeper lens on 10 study countries (Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco) that are among those with the highest prevalence of child marriage on the continent despite their high-level national commitments to end child marriage. This paper focuses on the findings of the study as they relate to the effects and consequences of child marriage in Africa and in the study countries in particular. Child marriage affects the involved children’s (mostly girls) quality of life in diverse, severe and lasting ways. These effects range from biological (health), to social and economic, all of which impact their lives permanently, especially their reproductive health, human rights and life chances as human beings. From a human rights perspective, child marriage is a violation of the rights of an individual, rooted in gender inequality and an impediment to girls’ social and economic development. In the study countries, the societies where this practice is common, exhibited a low value placed on girls and women, thereby perpetuating this as a norm and continually binding them in a vicious cycle affecting both present and subsequent generations. There is a strong correlation between child marriages, unequal opportunities for women, and low social economic development in those countries with countries that have a high prevalence of the practice. It follows therefore that developing countries have the highest levels of child marriages and that child marriages are most common among the proportion of the population living below the poverty line. The study noted that besides the inherent health risks associated with the practice, child marriages also put the girls at risks of maternal mortality, infection with venereal diseases and HIV as well as affecting their education and wellbeing. Child marriages also subject girls to rape throughout their marriage and increase other forms of gender-based violence such as domestic violence, child labour, loss of freedom isolation for the victims, school drop-out and illiteracy. Keywords: Child marriage, Child bride, prevalence, survivors, hotspots, UN Women, effects and consequences, women and girls, children, culture, religion, society, families, Africa, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/50-05 Publication date :July 31 st 2019

Multi-Country Analysis of Causes and Drivers of Child Marriage in Africa

The research is funded and led by UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Office. UN Women is the UN Agency dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. As a global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. With a vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world. It supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life. It has invested in its commitment to end all forms of violence including child marriage, Female Genital Mutilation and other harmful practices against women and girls across the globe. UN Women envisions a world where societies are free of gender-based discrimination, where women and men have equal opportunities, where the comprehensive economic and social development of women and girls is ensured so that they can lead the change that they want to see, where gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved, and where women’s rights are upheld in all efforts to further development, human rights, peace and security. Abstract This paper is drawn from the findings and recommendations of the UN Women East and Southern Africa led Multi-Country Analytical Study of Legislation, Policies, Interventions and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa undertaken in 2018. The study focused on Africa as a continent but with a deeper lens on 10 study countries (Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco) that are among those with the highest prevalence of child marriage on the continent despite their high-level national commitments to end child marriage. This paper focuses on the findings of the study, provides analysis, and draws some conclusions about the underlying causes and drivers of child marriage in Africa and in the study countries in particular. The underlying causes of child marriage are common across Africa, and they are anchored in patriarchal societies adhering to discriminatory gender norms that perpetuate gender inequality. This leads to discrimination against women and girls in all spheres of life, including social, cultural, and economic. It forms part of the structural and systemic determinants of the children’s, girls’ and women’s ecology and how they are treated and valued in the society, both in the public and private sphere. Keywords: Child marriage, UN Women, causes and drivers, women and girls, children, culture, religion, society, families, Africa, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/49-06 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Factors influencing the use of reproductive health care services among married adolescent girls in Dang District, Nepal: a qualitative study

BackgroundChild marriage is associated with adverse reproductive health outcomes, and the practice is still alarmingly common. Together with efforts to end child marriage, it is essential to provide adequate health care to already married adolescents. However, to date there has been very limited research on health care-seeking practices among married adolescents in Nepal.MethodThe study was conducted in a rural part of Dang District situated in the Mid-western region of Nepal. We combined thirteen individual interviews and four focus group discussions with 17–20 years old women who had married before the age of 18 years and individual interviews with 10 key informants.ResultsPressure to give birth early, limited autonomy, and little knowledge about reproductive health issues make married adolescents vulnerable to risky pregnancies. Early-married women face a range of barriers to use existing health services including work overload, transport and distance to health care facilities, qualities of services, verbal abuse by health care providers, and shyness and embarrassment.ConclusionWomen who marry and become pregnant during adolescence face a number of barriers that limit their access to health care services and they need more attention from the health services and policy makers. More youth friendly health services and education about sexual and reproductive health should be key elements in strategies to address the health issues of early-married women and adolescent girls.

The Global Adolescent Girl Agenda: An Analysis of the Emergence and the Political Outcomes of Two Global Health Networks

This article applies the framework developed by the Global Health Advocacy and Policy Project (GHAPP) to analyze the emergence and effectiveness of global health networks to two networks. One of them is Girls Not Brides, a global network of stakeholders working to end child, early, and forced marriage. The other is the network that is working to improve menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in schools and that includes the MHM in Ten network. By providing a theoretically informed account of these two networks, the article contributes to the literature by providing accounts of additional networks that can help us deepen our understanding of the factors that shape transnational network emergence and political outcomes. The two networks in this study complement the case studies completed by the GHAPP because they focus on a complex and politically and culturally sensitive set of issues. Furthermore, this article bridges the gap between the scholarly literature and the literature produced by NGOs and international organizations by providing a theoretically informed account of the effort to end child marriage and improve (MHM) in schools.

Put Your Own House in Order First: The United States as a Potential Case Study on How to Combat Child Marriage

The United States has been an outspoken proponent of ending child marriage around the world, but has not enacted domestic laws to prohibit child marriage and has not signed international agreements that have helped reduce the number of child marriages. This article examines the United States’ cultural and political reasons for not signing international agreements that would help end the practice of child marriage, why it has not passed domestic bans on child marriage, and what the international community could learn from the United States as it confronts its own challenges to end child marriage within its borders.

The Lived Experience of Child Marriage in the United States

ABSTRACTDespite international and domestic calls to end child marriage, 48 U.S. states permit the marriage of minors younger than age 18 as of August 2018. In developing nations, child marriage is associated with a wide range of adverse economic, health, and mental health outcomes, yet little research has been done to understand its effects on developed nations such as the United States. This study is the first to interview adults who were married as children in the United States, to investigate the reasons why the marriages occurred, and qualitatively understand the experiences of married American children. 21 participants (20 females and 1 male) self-selected into this study to complete an online questionnaire and be interviewed by phone. Participants were married between ages 13 and 17. Most participants (n = 18) reported physical, sexual, financial, or emotional abuse during their marriage as well as unwanted and/or unplanned pregnancies. This study shows some important social justice issues related to consent and the qualitative differences inherent in deciding to marry during childhood. Notably, this study did not find that pregnancy was the reason most participants married as minors, as some policy debates across the U.S. report.

“Child marriage” in context: exploring local attitudes towards early marriage in rural Tanzania

A global campaign to end “child marriage” has emerged over the last decade as part of growing international commitments to address gender inequities and improve female wellbeing. Campaigns typically assert that young brides have negligible autonomy in the marriage process and that marrying under 18 years has resolutely negative impacts on wellbeing. Yet, surprisingly few studies explore local attitudes towards marriage and its timing within contexts where early marriage is most common. As such our understanding of motivations and potential conflicts of interest leading female adolescents into marriage remain poorly informed by viewpoints of people purportedly at risk. We present an exploratory study of attitudes to early marriage in northwestern Tanzania where marriage before or shortly after 18 years is normative. We use focus group discussions, complimented by a survey of 993 women, to investigate local views on marriage. We explore (i) why people marry, (ii) when marriage is deemed appropriate, and (iii) who guides the marriage process. Contrary to dominant narratives in the end child marriage movement, we find that women are frequently active rather than passive in the selection of when and who to marry. Furthermore, marriage is widely viewed as instrumental in acquiring social status within one’s local community. Our conclusions illuminate why rates of early marriage remain high despite potential negative wellbeing consequences and increasingly restrictive laws. We discuss our results in relation to related qualitative studies in other cultural contexts and consider the policy implications for current efforts to limit early marriage in Tanzania and beyond.

Stakeholder Participation in the Project Cycle and Performance of End Child Marriage Project in Homa Bay County, Kenya

An evaluation carried out by Plan International noted that the sustainability and performance of community development projects is poor. This was greatly attributed to weak participation of stakeholders. The evaluation did not pay attention to participation of stakeholders in the different phase of project cycle and its effect on performance of the project even though a relationship had been noted by Pretty. The purpose of the study is to determine the influence of stakeholder participation in the project cycle on the performance of end child marriage (ECM) project in Homa Bay County. Descriptive survey design was adopted using quantitative the approach. The study utilized positivism and interpretive paradigms. The population of the study was the approximate three staff from each of the 51 civil society organizations and the community based organizations working together in the implementation of the End Child Marriage project in Homa Bay County. This gave a population of 153 people/staff. Using Sekeran sample determination, the sample was determined as 113 respondents. Simple random sampling was used to pick the respondents. The study employed questionnaires for data collection. Descriptive and inferential analysis techniques were used; mean, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages, cross tabulations and Spearman correlations. The logit regression model will also be used to analyze the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. It was established that was a moderate significant positive correlation between the performance of ECM project and participation in formulation r=0.500, p=0.000.There was a moderate significant positive correlation between the performance of ECM project and participation in financing. Spearman's rho=0.422, p=0.000.It was determined that there was a strong significant positive correlation between the performance of ECM project and participation in implementation. Spearman's rho=0.607, p=0.000.There was a moderate significant positive correlation between the performance of ECM project and participation in Monitoring and Evaluation. Spearman's rho=0.523, p=0.000.There was need to strengthen stakeholder participation in project formulation. The researcher recommends that there is need to enhance stakeholder participation in project financing. Plan Kenya should promote the participation of stakeholders in project implementation. Plan Kenya should also make efforts to bolster the engagement of stakeholder in the monitoring and evaluation of the end child marriage project, this would lead to better project performance. The researchers suggest further research on determinants of stakeholder participation in the project cycle of the end child marriage project in Homa Bay County.

Girls’ Education and Child Marriage in West and Central Africa: Trends, Impacts, Costs, and Solutions

Within the context of women’s lack of empowerment, the issues of child marriage and low educational attainment for girls are prominent, especially in West and Central Africa. Using survey data for 21 of the 25 countries in West and Central Africa, this article analyzes trends over time in educational attainment for girls and child marriage. Over the last two and a half decades, not accounting for differences in population sizes between countries, according to the latest DHS and MICS surveys available in each country, completion rates increased on average by 24 points, 14 points, and 8 points at the primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels, respectively. The prevalence of child marriage decreased by about 8 points over that period. Clearly, progress at the secondary level has been weaker than at the primary level, probably in part due to the persistence of high rates of child marriage in many countries. The article suggests that ending child marriage should improve girls’ educational attainment, and conversely, improving girls’ educational attainment should help reduce child marriage. This, in turn, could have major impacts toward contributing to empowering women more broadly. A review of impact evaluations for pilot interventions suggests how ending child marriage and improving educational attainment for girls could be done, with potentially large economic benefits not only for girls and their future household, but also for the region as a whole.

An empirical exploration of female child marriage determinants in Indonesia

BackgroundChild marriage, defined as marriage before age 18, is associated with adverse human capital outcomes. The child marriage burden remains high among female adolescents in Indonesia, despite increasing socioeconomic development. Research on child marriage in Southeast Asia is scarce. No nationally representative studies thus far have examined determinants of child marriage in Indonesia through multivariate regression modeling.MethodsWe used data from the nationally representative 2012 Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey and the Adolescent Reproductive Health Survey to estimate determinants of child marriage and marital preferences. We ran multivariate models to estimate the association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the following early marriage outcomes: 1) ever been married or cohabited, 2) married or cohabited before 18 years, 3) married or cohabited before 16 years, 4) self-reported marital-age preferences and 5) attitudes approving female child marriage.ResultsAmong the child marriage research sample (n = 6578, females aged 20–24 at time of survey), approximately 17% and 6% report being married before 18 and 16 years old respectively. Among the marital preferences research sample (n = 8779, unmarried females 15–24), the average respondent preferred marriage at approximately 26 years and 5% had attitudes approving child marriage. Education, wealth and media exposure have protective effects across marriage outcomes, while rural residence is a risk factor for the same. There are significant variations by region, indicating roles of religious, ethnic and other geographically diverse factors.ConclusionThis research fills a gap in understanding of child marriage determinants in Indonesia. There appears to be little support for child marriage among girls and young women, indicating an entry point for structural interventions that would lead to lasting change. Future research efforts should prioritize rigorous testing of gender-transformative education and economic strengthening interventions, including cost-effectiveness considerations to better understand how interventions and policies can be leveraged to deliver on ending child marriage in Indonesia and globally.

Child Marriage in a Village in West Java (Indonesia): Compromises between Legal Obligations and Religious Concerns

AbstractThis article addresses the dilemmas and compromises in legal practice around the issue of child marriage in Indonesia. Although the government set development goals that include ending child marriage and complying with human rights standard, it is facing considerable resistance. We researched the state legal system and law in practice to understand this resistance, finding that: (1) law-making in family law involves conflict between progressive and conservative ideas; (2) consequently there is friction within current family law and laws regarding human rights; (3) judges use their discretion to achieve compromises between state laws and local norms; and (4) state law is creatively interpreted and applied at village level. The resistance at all these levels, arising from the religious concerns of conservative Muslims in a rapidly modernizing Indonesian society, is a formidable obstacle for the government to achieve its development goals. Adolescent sexuality is at the heart of these tensions.

Education budget savings from ending child marriage and early childbirths: the case of Niger

ABSTRACTEnding child marriage and early childbirths would reduce total fertility rates and population growth especially in countries with a high incidence of child marriage, early childbirths, or both. Savings for public budgets could be large. This article relies on demographic projections and a UNESCO costing model for the provision of education by governments to estimate savings that could result from ending child marriage and early childbirths for public education budgets. The analysis is conducted for Niger, the country with the highest rate of child marriage in the world.

Prenatal arsenic exposure, child marriage, and pregnancy weight gain: Associations with preterm birth in Bangladesh

BackgroundPreterm birth is a disease of multifactorial etiologies that has environmental, social, and maternal health components. Individual studies have shown that exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water, child marriage, and low maternal weight gain during pregnancy contribute to preterm birth. These factors are highly prevalent and often co-exist in Bangladesh, a country in South Asia with one of the world's highest prevalences of preterm birth. ObjectiveTo evaluate the individual and interactive effects of prenatal arsenic exposure, child marriage, and pregnancy weight gain on preterm birth in a prospective birth cohort in Bangladesh. MethodsDuring 2008–2011, we recruited 1613 pregnant women aged ≥18years at ≤16weeks of gestation and followed them until 1-month post-partum. We measured total arsenic in drinking water (n=1184) and in maternal toenails (n=1115) collected at enrollment and ≤1-month post-partum, respectively using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Child marriage (<18years old) was defined using self-report, and 2nd and 3rd trimester pregnancy weight gain was calculated using monthly records. Gestational age was determined at enrollment by ultrasound. ResultsIn multivariate adjusted Poisson regression models, the risk ratios (RR) for preterm birth were 1.12 (95% CI: 1.07–1.18) for a unit change in natural log water arsenic exposure, 2.28 (95% CI: 1.76–2.95) for child marriage, and 0.64 (95% CI: 0.42–0.97) for a pound per week increase in maternal weight during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. In stratified analysis by child marriage, pregnancy weight gain was inversely associated with preterm birth among women with a history of child marriage (RR=0.58; 95% CI: 0.37–0.92), but not among women with no history of child marriage (RR=0.86; 95% CI: 0.37–2.01). Mediation analysis revealed that both arsenic exposure and child marriage had small but significant associations with preterm birth via lowering pregnancy weight gain. Similar associations were observed when arsenic exposure was assessed using maternal toenail arsenic concentrations. ConclusionsReducing arsenic exposure and ending child marriage could reduce the risk of preterm birth in Bangladesh. Furthermore, enhancing nutritional support to ensure adequate weight gain during pregnancy may provide additional benefits especially for women with a history of child marriage.

Girls not brides : ending child marriage in Nigeria

Girls not brides : ending child marriage in Nigeria

Child marriage and maternal health risks among young mothers in Gombi, Adamawa State, Nigeria: implications for mortality, entitlements and freedoms.

Efforts toward liberation of the girl-child from the shackles of early marriage have continued to be resisted through tradition, culture and religion in some parts of Nigeria. This study therefore examines the maternal health implications of early marriage on young mothers in the study area. Multistage sampling technique was employed to obtained data from 200 young mothers aged 15-24 years who married before aged 16 years. The study reveals that more than 60% had only primary education while more than 70% had experienced complications before or after childbirth. Age at first marriage, current age, level of education and household decision-making significantly influence (P<0.005) maternal health risks in the study area. The study establishes that respondents in age group 15-19 years are 1.234 times more likely to experience complications when compared with the reference category 20-24 years. Entitlements and freedom that are highly relevant to reduction of maternal mortality, provided by international treaties are inaccessible to young women in the study area. Strategies to end child marriage in the study area should include mass and compulsory education of girls, provision of other options to early marriage and childbearing and involvement of fathers in preventing and ending the practice.

Education as a Contrivance to Ending Child Marriage in Africa: Perspectives from Nigeria and Uganda

Nigeria and Uganda have both ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and have enacted domestic legislations that provide for the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children. Sadly, child marriage still exists and is one of the leading causes of morbidity and school dropout among children in both countries. This paper examines the legal and policy frameworks for combating child marriage and highlights the trends, challenges and prospects from a socio-legal perspective. It reveals a number of systematic procedural problems in the legal and policy apparatus for addressing child marriage. In responding to these challenges, the authors argue that the Nigerian and Ugandan governments should enhance access to basic education and initiate institutional reforms pertinent to the legal framework for effective enforcement of the laws that address child marriage.

Girls’ Vulnerability in Child-Marriage

Child marriage was primarily caused by Law No 1 1974 Marriage that stated girls could be marriage at the age of 16. The rejection of the judicial review of this Law and other severe factors has increased the number of child-marriage in Indonesia. Social change behavior will not solve the problems of child marriage. Status of girls in child-marriage are as follows: girls are vulnerable to being divorced, girls are prone to domestic violence, girls are prone to sexual violence and victim of phedophilia, girls are prone to drop-out from education and having poor and low access in jobmarket. There is an urgent need to a systemiv advocacy to end child marriage.