Child Marriage
Child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child.
Click the button below to watch the YouTube video about child marriage
Child marriage is often the result of entrenched gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one sixth that among girls.
Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. They have worse economic and health outcomes than their unmarried peers, which are eventually passed down to their own children, further straining a country’s capacity to provide quality health and education services.
Child brides often become pregnant during adolescence, when the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth increases – for themselves and their infants. The practice can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, taking a heavy toll on their physical and psychological well-being.
Because child marriage impacts a girl’s health, future and family, it imposes substantial economic costs at the national level, too, with major implications for development and prosperity.
Get The Facts on Child Marriage
"UNICEF estimates that 650 million women alive in the world today were married as girls. A third of them were married before their 15th birthday. And the stats don’t exactly paint a positive picture of the future: Each year, another 12 million girls under the age of 18 become child brides. In the time it took you to read this paragraph, another 8 girls will have gotten married."
Where does child marriage happen?
Between 2000 and 2018 more than 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children in Canada, usually girls.
In developing nations, the problem of child marriage is even more prevalent. Nine of the 10 countries with the highest rates are considered fragile states.
It cuts across ethnic, cultural, and religious lines, from Africa to the Middle East, Asia to Europe and the Americas. Niger, in Sub-Saharan Africa, has the highest rate of child marriage globally. 77% of girls there are married before the age of 18. Neighbouring countries like Mali, Chad and the Congo also see more than half of all girls married before their 18th birthday.
At its core, child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights. There are many factors at play when a child ends up in early or forced marriage – from financial or food insecurity to cultural or social norms. Whatever the cause, early marriage compromises a child’s development and severely limits her opportunities in life.
Four areas of influence driving child marriage
Child marriage is often the result of entrenched gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one sixth that among girls. Child marriage threatens the lives, well-being and futures of girls around the world. This compendium contributes to the global evidence base on the root drivers of child marriage.
Decision making Geography Parent-child relationship Community-level social norms
Click the picture above to enjoy the virtual tour about more details about child marriage.
Find How You Can Help
Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. They have worse economic and health outcomes than their unmarried peers, which are eventually passed down to their own children, further straining a country’s capacity to provide quality health and education services.
Because child marriage impacts a girl’s health, future and family, it imposes substantial economic costs at the national level, too, with major implications for development and prosperity.
Globally, one in five girls alive today were married before they turned 18. A decade ago, it was one in four. In the 1980s, it was one in three. UNICEF estimates that 25 million child marriages were prevented in the last decade alone – significant and meaningful progress worth celebrating. But without sustained reductions in the practice of child marriage, the global number of women married as children will reach nearly 1.2 billion by 2050. More than 190 countries around the world have adopted the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and committed to ending child marriage by 2030. In order to reach those targets, we’ll need to continue to step up our efforts.
You can help end child marriage by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice that families face. When you sponsor a girl, you help provide basic necessities like nutritious food, clean water, access to education and health care. For families with girls, sponsorship helps ensure they are protected from practices like early or forced marriage. Our Raw Hope program works in unstable countries where governments cannot or will not act to protect the rights of its people. In these unstable contexts, children and families face threats of violence, hunger, abuse and exploitation on a daily basis. When you give to Raw Hope, you can help protect vulnerable children living in the most dangerous places.
Complex issues like child marriage require solutions across all sectors and levels. We need to press governments to implement and enforce the laws and policies that protect children. Challenge the social norms that reinforce the idea that girls are inferior. Create safe spaces for them to speak up against harmful practices. Together, we can help girls pursue the dreams of their own future.