Peer-reviewed article
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Child Marriages: A Retrospective Analysis
Selma Tepehan Eraslan, Songül Duran ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined 75 cases of girls and boys applying for marriage permits at a Turkish family court between 2013 and 2017. Most applicants (96%) were girls under 18, and over 40% were pregnant or already had children. The main reason courts approved permits was to protect families from social gossip and reputational damage. The researchers recommend education programmes about the harms of early marriage for at-risk populations.
Key points
- 96% of applicants for marriage permits were girls under 18; only 4% were boys
- 41.7% of girl applicants were pregnant and 6.9% had already given birth
- 28% of applicants had mothers who were also married before age 18
- In 93.4% of cases, social gossip and family reputation concerns were cited as reasons for granting permits
- The study recommends educational interventions about negative aspects of early marriage
Limitations
This is a retrospective analysis of court files from one provincial court in Turkey, so the findings may not represent all child marriage cases or apply beyond this specific region. The study does not examine the long-term outcomes or consequences for the children who received marriage permits.
Abstract
This study was carried out to determine the profiles of cases applying to a provincial Turkish Family Court for marriage permits, to investigate the reasons that push girls into early marriage, and to examine the court’s decisions. The files of 75 people who’d applied to this family court between 2013 and 2017 for a marriage permit were examined retrospectively. The study found girls under 18 to be applying for a marriage permit in 96% of the cases and boys under 18 in 4% of the cases; of the girls, 41.7% were pregnant while 6.9% had already had their baby. Also, 28% of the applicants had mothers who’d also gotten married before the age of 18. In 93.4% of the cases, the couples’ relationship having caused the people around them to gossip and in turn affect the couple’s families adversely was considered an important reason for granting a marriage permit. People in the at-risk group are recommended to receive education about the negative aspects of early marriages.