Peer-reviewed article
Violence, Well-Being and Level of Participation in Formal Education among Adolescent Girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Role of Child Marriage
Debbie Landis, Kathryn Falb, Ilaria Michelis, Theresita Bakomere, Lindsay Stark ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study surveyed 350 girls aged 13-14 from 14 communities in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It compared married and unmarried girls on school participation and experiences of violence. Married girls took part less in formal education and reported more physical, sexual and emotional violence. More schooling was linked to less violence among unmarried girls, but not among married girls. The authors conclude that child marriage harms girls' safety, education and well-being and that prevention is urgently needed.
Key points
- Child marriage was associated with lower participation in formal education.
- Married girls reported higher rates of physical, sexual and emotional violence.
- After adjusting for age and education, married girls had more than three times the odds of sexual violence (OR 3.23, p<0.001).
- Married girls were significantly more likely to believe they would be forced to marry their perpetrator if raped (p=0.017).
- Higher education participation was linked to less violence among non-married girls, but not among married girls.
Limitations
This is a survey of 350 girls aged 13-14 in one province, so it shows associations rather than cause and effect and may not apply to other regions or age groups. The abstract does not describe how violence or marriage was measured, or how the communities were selected.
Abstract
Child marriage is a well-recognized barrier to education, and exposes girls to an increased risk of violence along with other negative health and developmental outcomes. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls selected from 14 communities in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Data from 350 girls (ages 13-14) were analyzed using mixed effects logistic regression models. Findings revealed that child marriage was associated with lower levels of participation in formal education as well as higher rates of physical, sexual and emotional violence. In particular, when adjusting for age and girls’ level of participation in formal education, being married was associated with more than a three-fold (OR: 3.23) increased risk of experiencing sexual violence (p<0.001). Married girls were also significantly more likely to affirm the belief that they would be forced to marry their perpetrator in the event that they were raped (p=0.017), suggesting that a portion of girls within this sample may have experienced this occurrence. Although higher levels of participation in formal education were associated with a reduced risk of violence among non-married girls, these differences were not observed for girls who were married. Findings reveal that child marriage has a significantly negative effect on the relationship between girls’ level of participation in formal education and experiences with violence. Taken cumulatively, findings from this study suggest an overall harmful relationship between child marriage and girls’ safety, education and well-being, and that efforts to prevent its occurrence in the DRC and beyond are urgently needed.