Peer-reviewed article
Child marriages in Senegal: Qualitative study on the perceptions of adolescents in Kaolack and Gossas
Ndèye Awa Fall, Barrel Sow Guèye, Diarra Bousso Senghor, Arsène Brunelle Sandie, Sidy Mokhtar Ndiaye et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explores how gender norms shape adolescents' views on child marriage in two regions of Senegal where one in three girls marry before age 18. Researchers interviewed 30 adolescents aged 10-19 and conducted 8 focus groups to understand perceptions of the practice and gather prevention ideas. Adolescents identified poverty, tradition, fear of pregnancy, and honour concerns as main drivers of child marriage, all rooted in patriarchal social norms and gender inequality.
Key points
- Child marriage prevalence in Senegal is 31%, with one in three girls married before age 18
- Adolescents perceive child marriage as driven by poverty, tradition, fear of early pregnancy, and preservation of girls' honour
- The practice is rooted in patriarchal social and cultural norms reflecting gender inequalities
- Legal frameworks exist but are not enforced or respected regarding marriage age
- Study included perspectives from both boys and girls across age groups 10-19
Limitations
This qualitative study documents adolescent perceptions but does not test or evaluate any intervention to prevent child marriage. The findings are specific to two regions in Senegal and may not represent all contexts within the country or region.
Abstract
An estimated 650 million girls worldwide are married before their 18th birthday. The phenomenon is recurrent in sub-Saharan Africa with a prevalence of 18% and particularly in Senegal where one in three girls is married before the age of 18, i.e. a prevalence of 31%. Despite the legislative and legal arsenals, the laws on the legal age of marriage are not respected. The general objective of this study is to document the way in which gender norms define and influence the perceptions of adolescents in Gossas and Kaolack on child marriages and to collect possible solutions proposed to prevent/ reduce the practice. We used qualitative data collected in the two study sites. These were individual interviews with adolescents aged 10-19 (n=30) and focus groups (n=8) with the same target. The interviews were conducted in Wolof and transcribed into French then coded using Dedoose software. The results are presented for each age group and each gender then triangulated in order to highlight similarities and divergences according to the different perspectives. The results show that child marriages are rooted in patriarchal social and cultural norms, while reflecting gender inequalities. Thus, adolescents' arguments regarding the causes of child marriage align with those described in the literature on gender norms. Most adolescents cited poverty, tradition, fear of early pregnancy, and concern to preserve the girl's honor as the main factors contributing to the persistence of child marriages.