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FACTBOX-Child marriage threatens girls' health and rights

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 08:00 GMT

Source: trustlaw // Alex Whiting

Fourteen-year-old child bride Lalita Saini (R) in Alsisar village, about 200 km (124 miles) north of Jaipur, India, April 25, 2007. REUTERS/Tanushree Punwani

This story is part of a TrustLaw special report on child marriage

LONDON, Aug 4 (TrustLaw) - Every day, more than 25,000 girls under the age of 18 are married worldwide, rights groups estimate. For many child brides, a future of poverty, exploitation and poor health awaits.

Following are key facts on child marriage around the world.

* Every three seconds, a girl under the age of 18 is married somewhere in the world, mostly in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

* The practice affects a third of girls -- and some boys -- in developing countries, according to UNICEF, which describes child marriage as "perhaps the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls".

* The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child says 18 years should be the minimum age for marriage.

* Child rights activists say marriage at a young age violates a child's basic human rights because they are too young to be able to give "free and full consent" -- a right enshrined in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

* Child marriage is most common in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

* In many developing countries the practice is illegal but the law is often not enforced or it operates alongside customary and religious laws.

* Girls younger than 15 are five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than women in their 20s. If they are 15-19, they are twice as likely to die.

* Girls under the age of 18 are more likely to develop obstetric fistula, which causes severe incontinence. This condition occurs during childbirth when a hole develops between the vagina and bladder or rectum.

* Girl brides are more likely to be infected with the HIV virus by their older husbands. A study in Kenya and Zambia by University of Chicago researchers found that among 15- to 19-year-old girls who are sexually active, being married increased their chances of having HIV by more than 75 percent.

* A girl bride is more likely to be beaten or raped by her husband and experience abusive relationships with her in-laws.

* The babies of child brides are 60 percent more likely to die before the age of one than children of women older than 19.

* Child brides are rarely allowed to go to school. Many are expected to bear and raise children and carry out domestic work for their in-laws.

* Girls from poor families are nearly twice as likely to marry before 18 than girls from wealthier families.

* The number of child marriages often increases during conflicts or natural disasters.

* Some families use marriage to build and strengthen alliances, to seal property deals, settle disputes or pay off debts.

(Sources: The Elders, International Center for Research on Women, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Plan UK, UNICEF)

(Reporting by Alex Whiting; editing by Tim Large and Sonya Hepinstall)

CHILD MARRIAGE: Denying girls’ rights, perpetuating poverty

View the complete special report at childmarriage.trust.org

Videos:

• Prologue
• Sapna’s story, India
• Farhiya’s story, Kenya
• Fatou’s story, Senegal
• Krishna and Kishan, India
• Cherie Blair interview
• Cassandra Balchin interview

Articles:

• Child marriage a scourge for millions of girls
• Child brides face 'silent health emergency'-experts
• Child 'drought brides' sold secretly in Kenya
• Teenage brides suffer pain and shame of fistula
• India schoolgirl defies tradition to reject child marriage
• From child bride to Senegal rights crusader

Resources:

• Info-graphic
• FACTBOX-Child marriage threatens girls' health and rights
• Q+A: Why does child marriage happen?
• Child marriage: further reading

Have Your Say:

• Child marriage: Cultural right or global blight?