Research on child marriage from the first decade of the 2000s was largely, and we now know, often mistakenly, interpreted to suggest that child brides—girls who marry under the age of 18 years—faced a higher vulnerability to and higher rates of HIV acquisition than girls and women who married later [1–4]. In one of the starkest statements on the perceived connection, a paper stemming from a December 2003 global consultation stated that “married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers” [5].
Suzanne Petroni, Rachel E Yates, Manahil Siddiqi et al.
Aim: The purpose of this research was to recognize and identify the reasons for the prevalence of early child marriage in Iran and to analyze the social and cultural details of this social problem. Method: The current research method was integrated (qualitative-quantitative) and practical in terms of its purpose. In the qualitative part, the participants included adults, children and adolescent girls and boys who were married at a young age (under 18 years) for various reasons, who were selected by purposeful sampling. The research tool was an interview and continued with 311 participants far more then theoretical saturation were needed. For the validity of the findings, face validity and reliability were used with recoding method by the coding team. In the quantitative part of the research, it was based on the analysis of surveys conducted from 2006- 2014 in seven provinces (Khorasan Razavi, East Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, Sistan and Baluchistan, West Azerbaijan, Hormozgan and Isfahan) of the country. Results: The findings showed that the most important factors affecting the continuation of child marriage include poverty, low education and illiteracy, legal permission to marry (13 for girls and 15 for boys), social pressures, patriarchal views, and traditional and religious beliefs. One of the effects of early marriage is the increase in divorce, lack of Jobs and eduction, and child widowhood, the growth of orphaned and poorly cared for children, sexual abuse of girls, the continuation of the cycle of poverty and prostitution, and the increase in physical, sexual and mental illnesses for girls. Conclusion: Early marriage of female children and adolescents in Iran is prevalent as a social and cultural harm in most provinces of the country, which is associated with various harms. Therefore, there is a serious need for changing the current laws on marriage and the officials and those involved in the family field to take preventive and interventionist measures on this issue.
BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem and negatively affects short-term and long-term health, development, and wellbeing of adolescent girls. Global estimates from WHO have shown that adolescent girls aged 15-19 years experience high rates of intimate partner violence. We aimed to estimate the lifetime and past-year prevalence and patterns of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls by male partners across 161 countries and areas, and to examine the country-level factors, including the prevalence of child marriage, associated with the lifetime and past-year prevalence of intimate partner violence in this age group. METHODS: These analyses used the 2018 global, regional, and country estimates on intimate partner violence published by WHO and economic, social, and political metadata from subject-specific databases. Drawing on data from the WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women, we used hierarchical Bayesian modelling techniques to estimate lifetime and past-year prevalence of physical or sexual (or both) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls aged 15-19 years by country. Linear regression methods were used to examine contextual social, economic, and political factors associated with intimate partner violence against adolescent girls in the 101 countries (lifetime prevalence) and 105 countries (past-year prevalence) for which these metadata were available. FINDINGS: The estimated global prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against ever-partnered adolescent girls aged 15-19 years was 24% (95% uncertainty interval 21-28) in their lifetime and 16% (14-19) in the past year. Prevalence varied greatly across countries and regions, with lifetime prevalence ranging from 6% (3-11) in Georgia to 49% (35-64) in Papua New Guinea. Overall, the prevalence of both lifetime (154 countries) and past-year (157 countries) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls was higher in low-income and lower-middle-income countries and regions than in high-income countries and regions. Countries with higher rates of female secondary school enrolment and those with inheritance laws that are more gender-equal had lower prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls. Lower-income countries and societies with a high prevalence of child marriage had higher prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls. INTERPRETATION: Our findings highlight the widespread prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls across the globe and its relationship with country-level contextual factors. They emphasise the need for promoting and ensuring policies and programmes that increase and ensure gender equality. Countries should strive to provide secondary education for all girls, ensure equal property rights for women, eliminate discriminatory gender norms, and address harmful practices such as child marriage. FUNDING: UN Women-WHO Joint Programme on Strengthening Violence Against Women Data funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office and the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction.
Lynnmarie Sardinha, İlknur Yüksel‐Kaptanoğlu, Mathieu Maheu‐Giroux et al.
In rural Mozambique, girls commonly marry and have children before age 18. We use a Positive Youth Development lens to examine how constructs of confidence and competence were related to adolescent girls’ ability to and progress toward achieving their future aspirations. As part of an intervention evaluation, we used a longitudinal qualitative design, conducting in-depth interviews with 47 adolescent girls aged 13 to 19 at the end of the intervention and 1 year later. We explored adolescent girls’ future aspirations and examined their progress toward achieving their goals and three distinct groups emerged: (a) hopeful with self-efficacy, on track to reach goals; (b) hopeful with mixed levels of self-efficacy, not on track to reach goals; and (c) lacking hope and self-efficacy, not taking any actions to reach goals. Having hope and self-efficacy and behavioral competence enabled progress toward achieving goals, but poverty, early marriage, and childbearing were major obstacles. We conclude that fostering individual-level protective factors (e.g., hope and self-efficacy) is useful in interventions targeted toward young women to prevent pregnancy and child marriage, but that external assets (e.g., community, structural interventions) should be promoted to facilitate girls staying in school, provide sustainable economic opportunities, and improve adolescent contraceptive access and use.
Catherine A. Packer, Kathleen Ridgeway, Rachel Lenzi et al.
Indonesia has the highest rate of early marriage in the world, according to a UNICEF study, placing 15th out of 63 countries. Child marriage will make it much harder for Indonesia to obtain a high human development index and meet sustainable development goals. To determine whether Communication, Information, and Education (CIE) regarding maturing age at marriage through the Interprofessional Education (IPE) approach affected the students' self-awareness. An experimental study with one group pre-test and post-test design was conducted on 121 participants. They were selected using random sampling from 16-30th August 2021 in Hidayatul Mubtadiat Islamic boarding school, Puri sub-district, Mojokerto district, East Java province, Indonesia. The intervention group attended a workshop led by a religious leader, psychologist, and maternity nursing lecturer, completed by a follow-up program. The data was collected using the self-awareness questionnaire modified from the Situational Self-Awareness Scale (SSAS). IBM SPSS (v.28) was used to analyze the data, including statistical tests such as descriptive statistics and a paired t-test for comparing the mean scores. A 5% level of significance was considered. After interventions, there was a significant self-awareness score improvement (p-value 0.000 and T value = -15.9). The participants had self-awareness in the good category of 60.3 %. Up from 17.4 % before the intervention with a change in mean + standard deviation (SD) pre-post 57.8 + 7.2 to 66.2 + 7.0. Meanwhile, the number of participants who had less self-awareness before the intervention (42.1%) decreased to 5% after the intervention. The study's findings verified the effectiveness of the CIE strategy to enhance self-awareness among adolescent girls using the IPE method. The supply of CIE on the maturity of marriage age with an interprofessional education approach is the proper step to raise adolescents' self-awareness in the right decision-making process. So that they can avoid early marriage deliberately and independently.
Child marriage remains a serious concern in Africa, and patriarchal norms exacerbate the problem. In Uganda, one in three girls marries before eighteen years. This study evaluates adolescents' agency in asserting their sexual and reproductive rights and challenging child marriage within the context of social norms, highlighting the consequences of child marriage. The study was conducted in six Northern Uganda districts, involving 424 adolescent girls and boys and 20 key informants. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted utilising quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were analysed at the bivariate level, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Majority (85.4%) expressed confidence in their ability to reject child marriage, even in cases where their parents supported it. Paradoxically, only 16% of adolescents demonstrated awareness of their right to decide when and whom to marry, while 21.5% maintained that it is acceptable for a girl to marry at any age, provided her parents or guardians approve. The study indicates that despite their confidence in personal agency, a significant number of adolescents struggle to challenge child marriage, highlighting the need for social work interventions that integrate education and life skills training, fostering self-awareness, assertiveness, effective communication, and advocacy to empower adolescents and resist harmful practices.
Janestic Mwende Twikirize, D. Ainembabazi, Paul Fredrick Mugume
We ask whether it is more effective to target men, women, or both - with the same intervention in the same context - to improve women's outcomes when behaviour is governed by gendered social norms. We conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial of an edutainment intervention in Pakistan - aimed at delaying marriage of adolescent girls, whereas community norms favour early marriage. We find that targeting men, either alone or jointly with women, reduces child marriages in households directly targeted by the intervention. Targeting women, however, either alone or jointly with men, leads to sustained reductions in child marriages at the village level. To rationalize this pattern of results, we build on a model of Bayesian persuasion in the household, where women are more hesitant to deviate from social norms. We extend this by allowing for gender-segregated information transmission from targeted spouses to other households in the village.
PURPOSE: Despite many programs aiming to delay girls' marriage and pregnancy over the last 2 decades, there is no consensus yet concerning the effectiveness of different approaches and the contexts in which they are implemented. We focus on different social contexts within Bangladesh and Zambia and investigate how literacy, poverty, and community characteristics impact the effectiveness of interventions. METHODS: We utilize data sets from two randomized controlled trials conducted by the Population Council in Bangladesh and Zambia. Within each respective country, we estimate the impacts of the interventions on marriage and pregnancy among adolescent girls using the analysis of covariance estimator by different social contexts based on community-level variables. RESULTS: In Bangladesh, providing academic skill training had a significant impact on discouraging child marriage in the villages where girls' paid-work participation rate was relatively high, whereas in low paid-work participation villages, providing gender-awareness skill training had an impact. In Zambia, providing empowerment intervention and safe spaces had a significant impact on delaying pregnancy especially for illiterate girls in the communities where premarital sex was relatively common. CONCLUSIONS: In Bangladesh, where girls' paid-work participation is limited, premarital sex is uncommon, and marriage is subject to collective decision-making; the effectiveness of a program may depend on girls' agency and the availability of acceptable working opportunities. In Zambia where premarital sex is common, pregnancy may precede marriage, and marriage entails the nature of individual decision-making; empowering the most vulnerable girls seems to be more effective in delaying marriage/pregnancy.
Momoe Makino, Thoai Dinh Ngo, Stephanie R. Psaki et al.
BACKGROUND: While the situation of married adolescent girls in Tanzania is increasingly documented, empirical evidence concerning the ways in which child marriage impacts girls' and young women's sexual lives is limited. Specifically, little is known about lived experiences on sexual violence among married adolescent girls in Tanzania. METHODS: This article reports on a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach to describe married girls' experiences of sexual violence in the Shinyanga Region, an area with the highest prevalence (59%) of child marriage in Tanzania. Data were collected from 20 married girls aged 12-17 years. RESULTS: The study identified four analytical themes regarding the experience of sexual violence, namely: forced sex; rape; struggling against unpleasant and painful sex; and inculcation of the culture of tolerance of sexual violence. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the voices of married adolescents on an important but a neglected topic of relevance to Tanzania's public health. Findings from this study suggest that married adolescent girls suffer sexual coercion in silence. Child marriage is a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Tanzania in particular. However, there is limited research on the ways in which it impacts sexual lives of married adolescent girls. In response to the inadequacy of information, married adolescent girls in Shinyanga Region of Tanzania were requested to voice out their experiences of sexual violence. Three themes were identified from the responses, namely: forced sex; rape, struggling against unpleasant and painful sex; and the inculcation of the culture of tolerance of sexual violence. In conclusion, this study has echoed voices of married adolescent girls on the sexual troubles they experience. Their main concern is that they suffer sexual coercion in silence, which increases their risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections and/or unwanted pregnancies. Recommendations for sexual violence prevention strategies are discussed.
For the last two decades, Bangladesh has made considerable progress in improving access to education at all levels. Despite these gains, the country continues to face challenges from student dropout at the secondary level. Girls drop out of school earlier than boys because of child marriage. Targeted policies and interventions designed to improve educational attainment and decrease child marriage may be an effective and sustainable way to address both issues. The Population Council implemented an intervention research study to test a life-skills and tutoring support model to reduce school dropout among secondary-school girls and enhance livelihood skills for unmarried girls who have dropped out of school, with the goal of delaying marriage. This project is part of UNICEF’s Education for Adolescents and UNFPA-UNICEF's Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage. As noted in this brief, the study tested the BALIKA project in intervention schools for scale-up. In the intervention schools, a blend of remedial educational support to in-school girls, soft-skills-based livelihood training for out-of-school girls, strengthening school management committees, community mobilization, and school improvement activities are being tested.
