In this study, children in adolescence, which is recognized as the 10-19 age group by the WHO (World Health Organization, 2022), and early marriage, which is one of the leading problems of children in this age group, and its consequences were examined. In addition, a case study was conducted on a 13-year-old girl who was forced into marriage. This study aims to destroy the perception that forced marriages are a thing of the past, to show that they still exist today, and to raise awareness in society. It is to show that it is not easy for people in the adolescent period to avoid forced marriages. Because the case study shows that the victim is forced, threatened, and physically harmed in this process.
Background: Early marriage by adolescents aged less than 16 years can affect the reproductive health readiness of mothers or prospective mothers in giving birth to children with low birth weight potential and risk of stunting. Method: The method used for systematic article review was obtained from 5 databases with 15 relevant articles screened using the PRISMA method. Results: The results of the data obtained are that economic status is very influential on the incidence of stunting, this is due to poor fulfillment of toddler nutrition, lack of education of parents of toddlers, and lack of information and access to good health services. Conclusion: Educational background, economic status, cultural background and environment are the strongest factors that can encourage early marriage for adolescents with the majority living in less developed areas.
Syafira Wahyu Widowati, Ira Nurmala, Shrimarti Rukmini Devy et al.
BACKGROUND: Child marriage is associated with adverse reproductive health outcomes, and the practice is still alarmingly common. Together with efforts to end child marriage, it is essential to provide adequate health care to already married adolescents. However, to date there has been very limited research on health care-seeking practices among married adolescents in Nepal. METHOD: The study was conducted in a rural part of Dang District situated in the Mid-western region of Nepal. We combined thirteen individual interviews and four focus group discussions with 17-20 years old women who had married before the age of 18 years and individual interviews with 10 key informants. RESULTS: Pressure to give birth early, limited autonomy, and little knowledge about reproductive health issues make married adolescents vulnerable to risky pregnancies. Early-married women face a range of barriers to use existing health services including work overload, transport and distance to health care facilities, qualities of services, verbal abuse by health care providers, and shyness and embarrassment. CONCLUSION: Women who marry and become pregnant during adolescence face a number of barriers that limit their access to health care services and they need more attention from the health services and policy makers. More youth friendly health services and education about sexual and reproductive health should be key elements in strategies to address the health issues of early-married women and adolescent girls.
Background We implemented a comprehensive intervention (Samata) to address school drop-out and child marriage among rural, marginalised adolescent girls in north Karnataka, south India. Here, we investigate (i) the impact of the intervention on factors hypothesised at baseline to be on the pathway to preventing school drop-out and child marriage, and (ii) associations between these factors and secondary school completion and child marriage. Methods Data was collected for a cluster-RCT evaluation. Factors hypothesised to be on the pathway to improving secondary school retention and delaying age at marriage included: (i) uptake of skills and training by adolescent girls; (ii) uptake of government school scholarships by families of adolescent girls; (iii) gender equitable attitudes among girls; (iv) reduced harassment by boys; and (v) an enabling school environment. Analyses used individual-level cluster-RCT survey data, were intention-to-treat and used mixed-effects logisitic regression models. Results 92.6% (2257/2457) of girls participated at baseline (13-14 years) and 72.8% (1788/2457) participated at end-line (15-16 years). At end-line, uptake of skills and training, gender equitable attitudes around marriage, and recent harassment by boys were significantly higher among girls in the intervention arm but there was no difference in uptake of government school scholarships, gender equitable attitudes around education or eve-teasing, or an enabling school environment by trial arm. Out-of-school/married girls were significantly less likely to have accessed skills or training, to have attended empowerment groups or to have made new friends (past year). They had lower levels of self-efficacy and were twice as likely to report having no hope for the future compared with their in-school/unmarried counterparts. Conclusions Samata was implemented in a context of substantial secular change across India; impacting on some of the factors hypothesised to be on the pathway was not sufficient to improve secondary school retention or delay marriage beyond what was already occurring. School dropout and child marriage were associated with diminished opportunities and well-being among girls. Targeted interventions are still needed; learnings from our study can be used to inform future interventions which similarly aim to impact on child marriage and secondary school retention within programmatic timeframes.
Tara Beattie, Ravi Prakash, Prakash Javalkar et al.
Numerous initiatives, including one in the Philippines, have been developed around the world to support the demand to end child marriage. Child marriage is widely practiced in indigenous and Muslim communities in the Philippines, but Republic Act No. 11596, known as the "Prohibition of Child Marriage Law," made it illegal in January 2022. Several actors, including youth groups in Muslim Mindanao, are seen as participants in this great success. This study aims to investigate the engagements and contributions of two Bangsamoro youth civil society organizations (CSOs) in this advocacy to recognize youth participation. Also, this study uses an institutional approach to seek and identify the enabling environment for youth participation in their quest to become active agents of positive change. Qualitative approaches are used to collect data from CSO youth members and other key informants. The findings imply that institutionalizing participation venues and the availability of initiatives funded by diverse donors promote robust youth engagement. Respondents also identified community involvement and school-based leadership development as motivators for joining and forming organizations. Networks among Bangsamoro youth groups encourage involvement and provide support in the pursuit of their advocacy. Intergenerational differences, on the other hand, limit youth engagement. Keywords: Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, CEFM, Youth-led engagement, Civil society organizations, Institutions
PURPOSE: The study projects the potential impact of COVID-19 on child marriage in the five countries in which the burden of child marriage is the largest: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, and Nigeria. METHODS: The projected impact of the pandemic on child marriage is based on a Markov model. A review of empirical and theoretical literature informed construction and parameter estimates of five pathways through which we expect an elevated marriage hazard: death of a parent, interruption of education, pregnancy risk, household income shocks, and reduced access to programs and services. Models are produced for an unmitigated scenario and a mitigated scenario in which effective interventions are applied to reduce the impact. RESULTS: The total number of excess child marriages in these five countries could range from 3.5 million to 4.9 million in the unmitigated scenario and from 1.8 million to 2.7 million in the mitigated scenario. The elevated risk compared with the baseline projection would continue until 2035. CONCLUSIONS: These projections represent the impact in five countries that account for 50% of child marriages globally, implying that if similar patterns hold, we might expect the number of excess child marriages due to the pandemic to reach 7 million to 10 million globally. These estimates are necessarily subject to high levels of uncertainty because of limited evidence on the impacts in relation to child marriage and for parameter estimates. It will likely take years to understand the full impact of the pandemic. Despite these limitations, the potential for harm is unquestionably large.
Joshua O. Yukich, Matt Worges, Anastasia J. Gage et al.
Introduction Child marriage is a fundamental development challenge for women and girls, with significant negative health and social outcomes. Sudan has a high rate of child marriage, with 34% of women aged 20–24 married before their 18th birthday. Since limited preventive interventions exist, we aimed to inform the evidence base to strengthen strategic action, using mixed qualitative methods to enhance study credibility. This study is the first to conduct a rigorous qualitative examination of the drivers of child marriage from the perspective of key stakeholders involved in marriage decision making within Sudan, and makes a significant contribution towards global knowledge by developing an evidence-based conceptual framework. Methods Initially, we completed 14 focus group discussions separated by gender with mothers, fathers, and girls married as adolescents, and 23 key informant interviews. We then used a critical incident case study approach to explore 11 ‘cases’ of child marriage (46 interviews). Results Findings indicate that gendered social norms and values, underpinned by religious beliefs and educational accessibility, interconnect to shape marriage decisions. In this context , many child marriages are triggered by an intrakinship proposal and further enabled by the relative lack of autonomy and influence of girls and women in marriage decision-making processes . Discussion Interconnected drivers demand context-specific holistic and multisectoral approaches, which should include simultaneous strategies to expand access to education, health services and livelihood opportunities, and evoke legal change, and participatory social and attitudinal processes that include the engagement of religious leaders and men.
Laura Dean, Angela I. N. Obasi, Asma El Sony et al.
This study assesses the determinants of teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in Kaloleni Sub-County, Kilifi County, Kenya. Teenage pregnancy remains a significant public health challenge globally and disproportionately affects adolescents in low- and middle-income settings, with Sub-Saharan Africa recording the highest burden. In Kenya, although the prevalence of teenage pregnancy has declined over time, it remains a persistent issue with geographic variation, including continued burden in Kilifi County. Existing evidence highlights multiple contributing factors, including socio-economic vulnerability, low educational attainment, limited access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, early sexual debut, and socio-cultural practices such as child marriage. Despite ongoing governmental and programmatic interventions, gaps remain in context-specific evidence at sub-county level to inform targeted responses. This study addresses this gap by generating localized evidence on determinants of teenage pregnancy in Kaloleni Sub-County. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design will be applied, using structured questionnaires to collect data from adolescent girls aged 15–19 years. The study will examine the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and its association with three domains: socio-demographic factors, socio-cultural factors, and health system factors. The findings will inform evidence-based adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) programming, policy formulation, and intervention design, with potential applicability to similar settings within Kilifi County.
BACKGROUND: Although marriage is associated with favourable reproductive outcomes among adult women, it is not known whether the marriage advantage applies to girls (< 18 years). The contribution of girl child marriage (< 18 years) to perinatal health is understudied in the Americas. METHODS: National singleton birth registrations were used to estimate the prevalence of girl child marriage among mothers in Brazil (2011-2018, N = 23,117,661), Ecuador (2014-2018, N = 1,519,168), the USA (2014-2018, N = 18,618,283) and Canada (2008-2018, N = 3,907,610). The joint associations between marital status and maternal age groups (< 18, 18-19 and 20-24 years) with preterm birth (< 37 weeks), small-for-gestational age (SGA < 10 percentile) and repeat birth were assessed with logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of births to < 18-year-old mothers was 9.9% in Ecuador, 8.9% in Brazil, 1.5% in the United States and 0.9% in Canada, and marriage prevalence among < 18-year-old mothers was 3.0%, 4.8%, 3.7% and 1.7%, respectively. In fully-adjusted models, marriage was associated with lower odds of preterm birth and SGA among 20-24-year-old mothers in the four countries. Compared to unmarried 20-24-year-old women, married and unmarried < 18-year-old girls had higher odds of preterm birth in the four countries, and slightly higher odds of SGA in Brazil and Ecuador but not in the USA and Canada. In comparisons within age groups, the odds of repeat birth among < 18-year-old married mothers exceeded that of their unmarried counterparts in Ecuador [AOR: 1.99, 95%CI: 1.82, 2.18], the USA [AOR: 2.96, 95%CI: 2.79, 3.14], and Canada [AOR: 2.17, 95%CI: 1.67, 2.82], although minimally in Brazil [AOR: 1.09, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.11]. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of births to < 18-year-old mothers varies considerably in the Americas. Girl child marriage was differentially associated with perinatal health indicators across countries, suggesting context-specific mechanisms.
Marcelo Luis Urquia, Rosângela Fernandes Lucena Batista, Carlos Grandi et al.
The age at first marriage carries risks for each woman's childbirth. The younger a woman's age at first marriage, the greater the risks to the safety of the mother and child. This study aimed to determine sexual and reproductive health knowledge regarding early marriage, its impacts, and sources of information about early marriage. This study used a descriptive qualitative design. The population was all adolescent girls in the Blabak Community Health Center (Puskesmas) area of Kediri Regency. The informants were two teenagers who had previously married early, eight who had never married early, two mothers with teenagers who had previously married early, eight mothers with teenagers who had never married early, and one midwife at the Blabak Community Health Center in Kediri Regency. The instrument used was interviews. The results showed that the majority of informants understood early marriage. In contrast, only three informants did not understand sexual and reproductive health, the impacts of early marriage, or had not received information about it. Individual counseling, not group counseling, was necessary because one-on-one counseling with respondents will increase their knowledge about early marriage.
Putri Eka Sejati, Sovia Walu, Lely Khulafa’ur Rosidah et al.
