Peer-reviewed article
Child marriage among Somali refugees in Ethiopia: a cross sectional survey of adolescent girls and adult women
Shatha Elnakib, Kara Hunersen, Janna Metzler, Hailu Bekele, W. Courtland Robinson ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This cross-sectional survey looked at child marriage among Somali adolescent girls living in Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia. It surveyed 603 adult women and collected household information on 3,319 people, including 522 girls aged 15–19. Among these girls, 14% were currently married and 11% had married before age 18. Factors linked to the risk of child marriage included schooling, the sex and employment status of the household head, and the number of girls under 18 in the childhood home. Adult women often did not know the legal minimum age at marriage and preferred low marriage ages, especially in households of child brides.
Key points
- 14% of girls aged 15–19 were currently married (95% CI 0.11–0.18).
- 11% had been married before age 18 (95% CI 8–15%).
- Schooling, sex and employment status of the household head, and number of girls under 18 in the childhood home were significantly associated with the hazard of child marriage.
- Adult women often incorrectly identified the minimum legal age at marriage and preferred low marital ages for boys and girls, particularly in households of child brides.
- Among married adolescent girls, contraceptive use was 11% and early childbearing was 60%.
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional survey in a single camp, so it shows associations rather than causes and may not apply to other refugee settings. The abstract does not describe the direction of the associations and does not evaluate any intervention.
Abstract
Abstract Background Despite child marriage receiving increased attention over the past two decades, research on child marriage in humanitarian settings remains scarce. This study sought to quantify child marriage among Somali adolescent girls residing in Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia and to identify its correlates and consequences. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted using multi-stage cluster-based sampling with probability proportional to size. We randomly sampled households that have at least one female aged 15–49 and at least one adolescent female aged 10–19. In addition to calculating the proportion of girls married under age 18, we used survival methods – namely Kaplan Meier graphs and Cox proportional hazard models – to identify risk factors associated with child marriage in this context. We also used descriptive statistics to describe marital age preferences among female adults and presented measures of important sexual and reproductive health indicators among married adolescent girls. Results A total of 603 adult women were surveyed and a household roster was created with information on 3319 household members, of whom 522 were adolescent girls aged 15–19. Of those, 14% were currently married (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.11–0.18), and 11% were ever married under age 18 (95% CI 8–15%). Several variables were found to be significantly associated with hazard of child marriage including schooling, sex and employment status of head of household, as well as number of girls under age 18 in the childhood home.. Adult women tended to incorrectly identify minimum legal age at marriage and preferred low marital age for boys and girls – particularly in households of child brides. Among married adolescent girls, contraceptive use was very low (11%; 95% CI 4.94–22.40), and early childbearing was common (60%; 95% CI 45.56–72.89). Conclusions This research contributes to the evidence base on child marriage in humanitarian settings. Insights generated from this study have the potential to inform programs and interventions aiming to prevent and mitigate the impacts of this harmful practice.