What is child marriage and why does it happen?

Why does child marriage happen?  

Child marriage happens for many reasons, which differ between location, circumstance and community.  

Poverty

One of the most significant drivers of child marriage in all settings is poverty.  

Poverty puts immense pressure on families. When providing for basic needs is difficult, child marriage can be seen as a way to reduce the number of people the household is responsible for.  

In some instances, families will be offered a dowry (a sum of money for their daughter’s marriage) which they may view as an essential source of income. 

Customs and social norms 

In many communities around the world it remains socially acceptable and even desirable for girls to be married before the age of 18, even where there are laws against doing so.  

Customs and social norms enabling child marriage are often rooted in patriarchal ideas around female sexuality and the stereotypical role of girls and women as wives and child-bearers. The perceived shame of pregnancy outside of marriage also drives the practice of child marriage as a supposed way to ‘protect the honour’ of a girl and her family.  

Gender inequality  

Gender inequality causes child marriage because it reinforces deep-rooted beliefs that girls are inferior to boys and that their role in families is as homemakers and child bearers.  

This perception of girls and women causes them to be pulled out of school, limits their opportunities and puts them at risk of child marriage. 

Inadequate child marriage laws and policies

In many countries child marriage is illegal, but inadequate laws and policies or a failure to implement existing laws enable the practice to continue. Such as: 

• Legal exceptions that allow child marriage to continue. Such as, parental/guardian consent, judges’ approval or a court/State’s approval. 

• Lack of public records and other vital statistics (such as birth certificates) mean it isn’t possible to verify the ages of those getting married. 

• Traditional customary laws (a local law upheld within a community based on their traditions, customs or norms) that co-exist and conflict with national laws and enable early and child marriages and unions to take place.     

• Countries setting a minimum age of marriage but not imposing sanctions for failing to observe this. 

Research suggests there are 117 nations still allowing child marriage to take place.  

Conflicts, disasters and emergencies

Disasters and humanitarian crises increase levels of child marriage and can see a return of the practice where it had previously become less common.   

Crises cause the breakdown of services and structures, like legal systems, education, social protection and health facilities, that would normally protect children and adolescents from harmful practices such as child marriage.  

Child marriage can be perceived by families in crisis as a means of protecting girls from increased risk of violence, food shortages and financial instability through a husband’s supposed guardianship – but in many cases, this places girls at increased risk of intimate partner violence and limits girls’ future work and earning opportunities and life choices.  

In crisis situations, families may marry their daughters to better support other members of the family and reduce the demands on their own limited resources, especially during food shortages.  

Disruption to education caused by crises increases girls’ vulnerability to child marriage as some families may see their future opportunities limited without continued access to safe, quality education and learning opportunities. Equally, without the protective environment of school (which has been shown to also delay the age at which girls marry), girls face greater risk of being subjected to child marriage. 

In some conflicts, armed groups have been responsible for the targeted abduction of girls for the purposes of forcing them into marriage. 

As the climate crisis continues to worsen and cause hardship for more people, girls, particularly those from vulnerable communities, will face greater risk of child marriages due to deterioration of livelihoods and increased displacement putting pressure on family incomes – which in turn drives families to turn to child marriage.  

Lack of education

Education enables girls to learn about their rights and take control of their lives. 

When girls and young women are unable to attend or finish school, their opportunities and earning potential are limited in later life, putting them at higher risk of child marriage.  

Research shows that for every year that a girl remains in secondary school she becomes less likely to enter into a child marriage. Therefore, girls’ access to quality education is a key component in the prevention of child marriage. 

Also, girls who are married as children often fail to complete their education– which limits their opportunities to secure decent work. This increases the likelihood that their children will also have limited access to education, driving the cycle of poverty.

Lack of sexual and reproductive health and rights education and services 

Without access to comprehensive sexuality education, many girls lack essential knowledge to make informed choices about their bodies and lives.  

In many cases, this results in girls not understanding the changes that happen in puberty, how to have safe and pleasurable sex, how to access contraception and how to navigate issues of consent, with unintended pregnancy a likely consequence.  

Unintended pregnancies increase the risk of child marriage due to the perceived shame of pregnancy outside of marriage. 

Challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights services make the situation worse. For example, a girl may try to access services but is met with judgmental attitudes from health workers which stop her from returning. In other cases, they may be unable to access services without the consent of their parent, husband or another person in authority. The cost of travel and distance to the nearest clinic can also create problems.