WHY DOES CHILD MARRIAGE HAPPEN?
There are several different reasons child marriage still happens, which usually overlap with each other. They can also differ depending on where a girl lives.
Here we focus on four of the biggest causes of child marriage, all of which overlap.
GENDER
INEQUALITY
The most important factor which enables child marriage is gender inequality: discrimination against women and girls usually based on the differences between genders, like physical and biological differences, and differences in development and ways of thinking. Gender inequality is also driven by cultural and societal beliefs that girls are inferior or less valuable than boys.
Gender inequality persists because most societies are dominated by men: for example, Presidents or Prime Ministers, elected officials, government officials, medical professionals, heads of businesses, community, and religious leaders are more likely to be men than women. This usually results in male or ‘patriarchal’ values and perceptions dominating how societies operate. For example, public services can be built without specifically taking into account the needs of women and girls, usually because the people in charge of services are men. A simple example of this is sanitation in schools: if a school does not have safe or functional toilets, this makes girls less likely to go to school, particularly once they start menstruating.
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Some specific ways in which gender inequality drives child marriage:
In many communities, particularly poorer and rural communities, families often believe that boys will generate income, or get jobs with higher wages than girls, and that girls are more dependent on their families, and their role is to become wives and mothers. This belief leads to boys being more likely to be enrolled in school, or to families keeping their sons in school for more years than their daughters. (This particularly happens when there are financial barriers to going to school, such as school fees, or the cost of school materials and uniforms.) Families will then marry off their daughters when they believe they are of ‘marrying’ age - which might be based on physical reasons such as menstruation or puberty, or on religious, cultural, or traditional ages for marriage.
Gender inequality and patriarchal values can lead to girls’ behaviours being controlled by the men in her family or community. This could include controlling how a girl dresses, limiting where she can go or how often she can leave the house, and determining who a girl marries, and when.
Control, as well as religious, cultural, and traditional beliefs, also apply to a girl’s sexuality and virginity. In many societies, girls having sexual relationships before marriage is perceived to be shameful or dishonourable, and families in these societies will marry their daughters off quickly to avoid them ‘bringing shame’ upon the family. In such societies, men are far less likely to marry a girl who is not a virgin or ‘pure’, which often means she will remain at home and become a perceived burden to her own family.
Although there are a handful of countries where child marriage takes place between two children, cultural and traditional child marriages are usually driven by gender inequality. For example, in countries where men marry more than one wife (polygamous marriage), young girls are sought to become second or third wives. Cultural or traditional marriages usually see girls married off when they reach puberty or have started menstruating, predominantly to adult men.
There are a wide number of other factors which allow child marriage to continue happening, and these always overlap with gender inequality, and usually with each other.
Poverty is an enormous factor in child marriage. Worldwide, the rate of child marriage among the wealthiest familes is 8.8%, compared to 32.3% among the poorest. The biggest gap is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 12.1% of girls from the wealthiest families get married as children, compared to 49.3% of the poorest - or 1 in every 2 girls being married off.
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In the poorest households in most of the world, child marriage is also decreasing at a slower rate compared to the wealthiest households. Predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Latin America, child marriage among poorer families has been increasing in the past decade.
Some specific examples of how poverty drives child marriage:
POVERTY
Poorer families cannot always afford to send all of their children to school, often because there are cost barriers such as school fees, or the cost of school materials and uniforms. As such, gender inequality comes into action and sons will be chosen to go to school over daughters. Daughters are expected to become wives and mothers, so instead of sending them to school, they get married off early to ‘secure’ their futures. It also means that the family’s expenses will reduce, as the girl will go to live with her husband and his family.
Sometimes, the financial needs of a family can be directly improved by a child marriage, because in many traditional marriages a dowry is still paid. This is an amount of money gifted from one family to another on the occasion of a marriage between the two families. Depending on the religion, culture, or tradition, this can be either the price a bride’s family pays, or the price the groom or his family pays. Traditions in which the bride’s family pays can lead to particularly young girls being married off, as the price that needs to be paid by her family is lower if she is young and has little or no education.
When girls are married off early and do not complete their education, the cycle of poverty continues, as the girl is far less likely to be able to get decent work later in life. Her daughters are also likely to be vulnerable to child marriage.
There are several ways that the government can make laws which prevent child marriage. The simplest way is a law which makes the minimum age of 18 for marriage, without any exceptions such as lower ages with parental consent, or lower ages because of cultural, religious, or traditional marriage. Although most countries have a legal age of marriage of 18, in practice most countries have these types of exceptions to the rules. Fewer than 40 countries have set 18 as the legal age of marriage with no exceptions.
Some examples of how the absence of laws, or the poor implementation of laws, can enable child marriage:
ABSENCE OR POOR
IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS AND GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS
Some countries allow marriage below the age of 18 if the parents of the child or children have given their consent, or if a government department or legal authority gives their consent.
Some countries allow lower ages of marriage for cultural, religious, or traditional reasons. These countries usually give priority to religious laws or traditional and cultural practices instead of the laws on child marriage.
When a government does not have enough money for there to be enough public workers - such as police officers, judges, registration officers, or teachers - or to build schools, police stations, or registration offices, then it is very difficult to implement the country’s laws and policies. Rural and remote areas, and areas which are impacted by climate disaster, usually have less access to these public workers and services.
If laws do exist, many communities and families - including their children - might not know about them. This is especially the case when laws are newly created. Governments must spend money to ensure these laws are communicated and understood by all communities, including children.
You can read more about child marriage and the law here.
Child marriage is more likely to happen to girls who live in areas which are affected by war and conflict, or areas which are vulnerable to climate disaster impacts. Gender inequality and violence including sexual violence against girls become more acute in such situations, and child marriage is believed to be a way to protect girls from physical and sexual violence.
INSTABILITY: CONFLICT
AND CLIMATE DISASTER
In 2022, Save the Children published research which found that girls living in conflict areas are 20% more likely to be in child marriages compared to girls living in peaceful areas.
Of the ten countries with the highest rates of child marriage, seven of them are classified as being unstable due to violence and conflict, and are also vulnerable to climate disaster impacts. The other three are classified as being either unstable or vulnerable to climate disaster impacts.
Of the fifty countries with the highest rates of child marriage, 44% are classified as unstable, and 60% are vulnerable to climate disaster impacts. 30% are classified as both.
When a country or area is ‘unstable’ due to conflict and climate disaster impacts, protections for girls are less likely to be accessible, such as schools, policing, or other forms of public service. Non-government organisations and charities which support women and girls may be less likely to work in these areas, or to prioritise violence against girls.
