Peer-reviewed article
Investing in activism: Learning from children’s actions to stop child marriage
Patricio Cuevas‐Parra, E. Kay M. Tisdall ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how child activists in Bangladesh and Ghana used their participation in Child Forums and Children's Parliaments to prevent child marriages in their communities. Through case studies with 75 child activists, 10 girls whose marriages were stopped, and 22 adult stakeholders, researchers found that children's activism worked by both challenging and relying on relationships with adults. The children successfully mobilised key stakeholders by drawing on their social networks and influence within their communities.
Key points
- Child activists in Bangladesh and Ghana successfully stopped potential child marriages through organised activism
- Children's activism worked by mobilising critical social capital and engaging key adult stakeholders
- Activism disrupted traditional intergenerational relations and changed adults' attitudes towards children
- Children's success depended on their ability to draw on and navigate relationships with adults
- The study involved 75 child activists, 10 girls whose marriages were prevented, and 22 adult stakeholders
Limitations
The study is based on case studies and does not measure outcomes quantitatively or compare activism approaches. It cannot tell us the scale of impact across broader populations, the sustainability of attitude change among adults, or which specific activist strategies were most effective in different contexts.
Abstract
This article draws on child activists’ experiences in Bangladesh and Ghana, who mobilised to stop potential child marriages from their respective Child Forums and Children’s Parliaments. Case studies were undertaken with 75 child activists, 10 girls whose child marriages had been stopped, and 22 adult stakeholders. The children’s activism disrupted intergenerational relations – unsettling adults’ attitudes towards children – and depended on such relations – children were successful in stopping child marriages because they drew on critical social capital and mobilised key stakeholders. Children’s activism thus has lessons for children’s participation literature more generally, in the synergies between children’s mobilisation and intergenerational relations.