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The Prevalence and Predictors of Early Girl Child Marriage in the Nabdam district of the Upper East Region Ghana
Baba Yahaya Mohammed ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined child marriage in Nabdam district in Ghana's Upper East Region, identifying the factors that drive the practice. Researchers surveyed 93 respondents using structured questionnaires to understand the prevalence and predictors of early girl child marriage. The study found that poverty, teenage pregnancy, cultural norms around exchanging girls for marriage, and pressure from family members are key drivers. The authors recommend addressing the issue through keeping girls in school, preventing teenage pregnancy, economic empowerment, law enforcement, and changing cultural attitudes.
Key points
- Poverty is identified as a major driver of child marriage in the study area
- Teenage pregnancy is linked to child marriage
- Cultural norms including exchange of girls for marriage and family pressure sustain the practice
- Education, economic empowerment of girls, and law enforcement are recommended strategies
- Socio-cultural norms and practices need to be addressed to end child marriage
Limitations
The study is small (93 respondents) and limited to one district in Ghana, so findings may not be generalisable to other regions. The document does not provide quantitative prevalence figures or comparative analysis of the relative strength of different predictors.
Abstract
Child marriage remains a challenge in Ghana. Over the years, government and development partners have made various commitments and efforts to curb the phenomenon of child marriage. However, there is little empirical evidence on the predictors, norms and practices surrounding the practice to support their efforts, a gap this study sought to fill. Methods: The study adopted an explanatory research design and quantitative research approach in which simple random and convenient sampling technique were used to select ninety-three respondents from Kongo-Pitanga of Nabdam district. The study used structured questionnaires as a tool for data collection. Findings : From the qualitative data, the study identified poverty, teenage pregnancy, and cultural norms such as, exchange of girls for marriage and pressure from significant others as the drivers of child marriage. Conclusion: The findings show that various socio-economic and cultural factors such as education, teenage pregnancy, and poverty influence child marriage. Hence, efforts to curb child marriage should be geared towards retention of girls in school, curbing teenage pregnancy, empowering girls economically, enforcing laws on child marriage in Ghana, as well as designing tailored advocacy programs to educate key stakeholders and adolescent girls on the consequences of child marriage. Additionally, there is the need to address socio-cultural norms/practices to help end child marriage.