#WePledge

The scale of the challenge remains immense: on average every three seconds, a girl is married somewhere in the world. 

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What are the impacts of child marriage? 

Child marriage involving a person under 18 is a human rights violation that denies children, particularly girls, the right to education, bodily autonomy, and freedom from violence. 

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It perpetuates cycles of poverty, leads to early pregnancies, higher maternal mortality, increased vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections, and undermines the social and economic development of communities and countries. 

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Some of these impacts are explained below:

• Education: Child marriage makes it far more likely that a girl will leave school and end her formal education. Once married, girls often encounter institutional barriers that limit or even block their ability to continue learning.

• Health: Child marriage often leads to adolescent pregnancies, putting girls’ health and well-being at significant risk. At a young age, their bodies are not fully developed and according to the WHO, pregnancy and childbirth-related complications are among the leading causes of death for girls aged 15-19 worldwide. 

• Sexual, physical, and emotional violence: Child marriage itself is recognised internationally as a form of gender-based violence. Girls and women married in childhood face a heightened vulnerability to physical, emotional, and sexual violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV). 

• Socio-economic development: Reducing child marriage brings huge economic gains through more sustainable population growth, lowering under-five mortality and stunting, and boosting labour-force participation, earnings, and overall productivity. A 2017 World Bank study estimated that ending child marriage and early childbearing would add over $4 trillion to the global economy. 

 

Where does Child Marriage happen?

Today, an estimated 640 million women and girls are living with the lifelong impacts of being married in childhood. There has been some progress, over the past decade, the global rate has declined from 23% to 19%, reflecting a meaningful shift driven by sustained advocacy, stronger laws, and community action. 

Yet, Child marriage occurs in every region, cutting across cultures, religions, and communities 

UNICEF (2025) reports, the prevalence of girls married before the age of 18 remains around 31% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 26% in South Asia, 21% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 16% in the Middle East and North Africa, 8% in East Asia and the Pacific, and 7% in Europe and Central Asia. 

These figures show how much further we must go to ensure that every girl, everywhere, can grow up free from the threat of child marriage and realise her full potential.

 

Whose responsibility is it to end child marriage?

 

Child marriage is not inevitable; it is entirely preventable. The steady global decline in child marriage shows that progress is possible when countries prioritise girls’ rights and well-being. 

 

But lasting change demands collective effort. Individuals, families, communities, faith leaders, civil society, and governments must stand together with a shared commitment to protect every child’s future. 

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Only through unified and determined action can we finally end child marriage

 

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Learn more about the causes, consequences and prevalence of child marriage: ​

(1) Child marriage. United Nations Population Fund. https://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage ​

(2) Child marriage data. UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/resources/dataset/child-marriage/ 

(3) Gender-based violence and child marriage. Girls Not Brides. https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/child-marriage-and-health/gender-based-violence-and-child-marriage/ 

(4) The Child Marriage Data Portal. Child Marriage Data Portal. https://childmarriagedata.org/

(5) Why Does Child Marriage Happen? Child Marriage Free. https://www.childmarriagefree.world/causes-of-child-marriage