Peer-reviewed article
Socio-demographic Correlates of Child Marriages: A Study from Turkey.
Songül Duran, Selma Tepehan Eraslan ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined 651 Turkish women aged 30 and under who married as children to identify risk factors for early marriage. Women from Romani ethnic backgrounds, with primary school education, parents with low education or income, and those unemployed were more likely to have married young. Many early-married women experienced spousal violence and regretted their marriages, particularly those in love matches who wished they had continued schooling instead.
Key points
- Romani ethnicity, low parental education, and low household income were associated with earlier marriage age
- Most women who married early were unemployed and vulnerable to spousal violence
- Women in love marriages regretted marrying early more than those in arranged marriages
- The vast majority of early-married women stated they would have pursued education if they had not married as children
- Recommendations include education for at-risk groups, support for affected women, and stricter legal sanctions against child marriage
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional descriptive study without a comparison group, so it cannot establish causation or measure intervention effects. The study only includes women who survived to adulthood and may not capture the full range of outcomes or experiences of all girls who married as children.
Abstract
The present study was aimed at determining the factors affecting women's decisions of early marriage. The study sample comprised 651 women who were in the 30 and under age group, and had gotten married during their childhood. The study data were collected using the questionnaire developed by the researchers through a literature review. In the present study, those who had Romani ethnic origin, who were primary school graduates, who had parents with lower education and/or whom had low income got married at a younger age. Most of the women who had early marriages were unemployed and vulnerable to spousal violence. It was determined that the women who had love marriages at an early age regretted getting married more compared to those who had arranged marriages and the vast majority of the former ones stated that they would have continued their education if they had not gotten married at an early age. Given the causes of early marriages, it is recommended that women in the at-risk group should be educated about the negative aspects of early marriages that women who have gotten married at an early age and seek support should be helped and that child marriages should be discouraged by preparing stricter legal sanctions.