TRANSITIONS TO ADULTHOOD
Child Marriage/Married Adolescents

Population Council researchers estimate that approximately one-third of girls living in the developing world (excluding China) are married before age 18. These millions of girls are defined as “children” by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Council research also indicates that approximately one out of seven girls in the developing world (excluding China) marry before their fifteenth birthday.

Child marriage violates girls’ human rights by excluding them from decisions regarding the timing of marriage and choice of spouse. In many instances, child marriage marks an abrupt initiation into sexual relations, often with a husband who is considerably older and a relative stranger. Married girls, under pressure to become pregnant, face the risk of problems during childbirth. In addition, married girls have few social connections, restricted mobility, limited control over resources, and little power in their new households.

Although age at marriage is increasing in most regions of the developing world, if present patterns continue, over 100 million girls will be married as children in the next ten years. The countries with the highest proportion of child brides are typically in West Africa and South Asia. “Hot spots” of child marriage (whether characterized by region, ethnic or religious group, or economic disadvantage) exist where a large proportion of girls are married even before their fifteenth birthday (see bar graph for some regional hot spots of child marriage).

Naturally, wherever child marriage is prevalent, large populations of married girls also exist, and both girls at risk of child marriage and those already affected are in need of support and information. Thus, Population Council projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and elsewhere foster an environment that is supportive of later marriage. These projects offer families the resources and options they need to defer marriage while supporting married girls by addressing the isolation and disempowerment that characterize their situation and their health care needs.

Selected Projects

Current

• HIV and AIDS

  • Ethiopia: HIV Prevention for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls (9/06–ongoing)

• Poverty, Gender, and Youth

  • Burkina Faso: Eliminating Child Marriage in Burkina Faso: A Plan for Protection, Empowerment, and Community Action (8/08–4/10)

  • Ethiopia: Berhane Hewan: Supporting Married and Unmarried Girls in Rural Ethiopia (12/04–6/08)

  • Kenya: Highlighting Marital Risk and Promoting Premarital Voluntary Counseling and Testing in Nyanza (6/05–3/08)

  • Nigeria: Addressing Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria (11/05–11/09)

• Reproductive Health

  • Nigeria: Administering Magnesium Sulfate to Treat Severe Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia (2/08–12/08)

Completed

• Poverty, Gender, and Youth

  • Burkina Faso and Egypt: Strengthening Social and Health Services to Meet Adolescent Girls’ Health and Development Needs (completed)

  • Guatemala: Creating Opportunities for Mayan Adolescent Girls (completed 12/06)

  • India: First-time Parents Project (completed 2005)

  Reproductive Health

  • Senegal: Evaluation of the Long-term Impact of the Tostan Program on the Abandonment of FGC and Early Marriage (completed 12/06)

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Offsite Link

• PBS NOW's "Child Brides: Stolen Lives" documentary showcases Council efforts to improve opportunities for Mayan girls in Guatemala. (more) (offsite link to documentary)

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