411: Early Marriage
Author: UNICEF
The practice of girls marrying at a young age is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, in the Middle East, North Africa and other parts of Asia, marriage at or shortly after puberty is common among some groups. There are also parts of West and East Africa and of South Asia where marriages much earlier than puberty are not unusual.
It is hard to know the number of early marriages as so many are unregistered and unofficial. There are exceptions such as Bangladesh, where a survey in 1996-97 reported that five per cent of 10 to 14 year-olds were married.
Small-scale studies and anecdotal information fill in the picture. They imply that marriage at a very young age is wide-spread:
- A 1998 survey in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh found that nearly 14% of girls were married between the ages of 10 and 14.
- In Ethiopia and in parts of West Africa, marriage at the age of seven or eight is not uncommon.
- In Kebbi State in northern Nigeria, the average age of marriage for girls is just over 11 years, against a national average of 17.
Parents choose to marry off their daughters early for a number of reasons. Poor families may regard a young girl as an economic burden and her marriage as a necessary survival strategy for her family. They may think that early marriage offers protection for their daughter from the dangers of sexual assault, or more generally, offers the care of a male guardian. Early marriage may also be seen as a strategy to avoid girls becoming pregnant outside marriage.
Gender discrimination can also underpin early marriage. Girls may be married young to ensure obedience and subservience within their husband's household and to maximize their childbearing.
Early marriage can have serious harmful consequences for children, including:
Denial of education: Once married, girls tend not to go to school.
Health problems: These include premature pregnancies, which cause higher rates of maternal and infant mortality. Teenage girls are also more vulnerable to sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
Abuse: This is common in child marriages. In addition, children who refuse to marry or who choose a marriage partner against the wishes of their parents are often punished or even killed by their families in so-called "honour killings."
