Despite legislation outlawing child marriage in Kyrgyzstan in 2017, the practice continues today. Early marriage is driven by social norms around religion, honor, financial stability, and restrictive gender roles. Participatory research activities were implemented with 12 adolescents in Kyrgyzstan Osh and the rural town of Chuy. Activities explored the perceptions of male and female youth around early marriage, gender norms, the consequences and benefits of marriage, and their autonomy in deciding who and when to wed. Responses from adolescents in the study were analyzed for themes by gender to reveal patterns in social norms around early marriage in Kyrgyzstan. Data showed that adolescents overwhelmingly did not support early marriage and expressed anxiety, shame, or concern about this topic. Interventions to prevent early marriage in Kyrgyzstan should advocate for girls’ education and career opportunities and raise family and community awareness about the harms of child marriage.
Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood to find identity. At this time there is a feeling of wanting to try new things. Early marriage is a marriage of a couple aged 19 years or can be categorized as adolescences. One of the serious problems faced by developing countries including Indonesia. The impacts of early marriage include low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, anemia and can cause defects in babies. This happens because the reproductive organs are not physiologically mature. This study aimed to determine the correlation between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent attitudes towards the perception of early marriage. This was correlation quantitative research with Cross-sectional approach. The population of this assessment was female adolescents at SMKN 1 Kademangan class XI. The sample was taken using the simple random sampling technique and obtained 48 respondents. The data analysis used Spearman rank. The research instrument used a questionnaire. From the study, it was found that there was a correlation between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent attitudes towards the perception of early marriage. Knowledge is one of the factors that can determine adolescents' attitudes towards perceptions of early marriage. Reproductive health education needs to be given to adolescents, especially female adolescents, to form attitudes and change perceptions of early marriage.
Child marriage remains a significant social issue in Bangladesh, affecting millions of young girls and hindering their potential. Defined as a marriage where at least one party is below the age of 18, this practice disproportionately impacts girls, limiting their access to education, economic opportunities, and health services. Key drivers of child marriage include poverty, cultural norms, and inadequate enforcement of legal frameworks. Despite legislative measures like the Child Marriage Restraint Act (2017) and government initiatives such as the National Action Plan to End Child Marriage (2018–2030), challenges persist due to societal resistance, economic barriers, and gaps in implementation. This article explores the causes and consequences of child marriage, emphasizing its health, educational, and economic impacts on individuals and society. The paper also evaluates the effectiveness of existing interventions and highlights the need for community engagement, improved law enforcement, and economic support for vulnerable families. By addressing these issues, Bangladesh can progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5.3, which aims to eliminate harmful practices, including child marriage. The findings underscore the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration and innovative solutions, such as conditional cash transfers and community-led awareness programs, in combating this deep-rooted practice.
Child marriage is a problem which exists and continues in many parts of the world although commitments have been made to discourage it. Earlier research work shows that the incidence of child marriages varies globally. Many factors affect the choice of marriage and age pattern such as globalization, modernization, urbanization; in country migration, social transformation, gender relations; changes in the family joint to nuclear patterns; amendments in laws regarding the institution of marriage and divorce process; and increased involvement and contribution of women in paid labor. This research aims to explore experiences of women who were married at a nearly age. The universe of this research was Karachi city. The researchers used convenience sampling method and purposive and snowball sampling technique to interview100 female respondents married at the early age of 12-17years. The study shows that majority of child marriages/early marriages are due to traditional practices. Most of them belong to low-income families and were illiterate. Although these women got married in early age, they intend to marry their daughters after 18 years of age. Findings conclude that however there are significant steps taken to demotivate child marriage worldwide, the Government of Pakistan and other organizations working toward women wellbeing, need to create an enabling environment and de-motivate not only the parents, but the community members against child marriages.
Dr. Shagufta Nasreen, Aliyah Ali, Dr. Syed Karim Bux Shah
Despite dramatic reductions in child marriage over the past decade, more than one in four girls in India still marry before reaching age 18. This practice is driven by a complex interplay of social and normative beliefs and values that are inadequately represented in national- or even state-level analyses of the drivers of child marriage. A geographic lens was employed to assess variations in child marriage prevalence across Indian districts, identify hot and cold spots, and quantify spatial dependence and heterogeneity in factors associated with district levels of child marriage. Data were derived from the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey and the 2011 India Census, and represent 636 districts in total. Analyses included global Moran's I, LISAs, spatial Durbin regression and geographically weighted regression. This study finds wide inter- and intra-state heterogeneity in levels of child marriage across India. District levels of child marriage were strongly influenced by geographic characteristics, and even more so by the geographic characteristics of neighboring districts. Districts with higher levels of female mobile phone access and newspaper use had lower levels of child marriage. These relationships, however, were all subject to substantial local spatial heterogeneity. The results indicate that characteristics of neighboring districts, as well as characteristics of a district itself, are important in explaining levels of child marriage, and that those relationships are not constant across India. Child marriage reduction programs that are targeted within specific administrative boundaries may thus be undermined by geographic delineations that do not necessarily reflect the independent and interdependent characteristics of the communities who live therein. The geographic, social and normative characteristics of local communities are key considerations in future child marriage programs and policies.
Lotus McDougal, Holly Baker Shakya, Nabamallika Dehingia et al.
BACKGROUND: Prior research documents that India has the greatest number of girls married as minors of any nation in the world, increasing social and health risks for both these young wives and their children. While the prevalence of child marriage has declined in the nation, more work is needed to accelerate this decline and the negative consequences of the practice. Expanded targets for intervention require greater identification of these targets. Machine learning can offer insight into identification of novel factors associated with child marriage that can serve as targets for intervention. METHODS: We applied machine learning methods to retrospective cross-sectional survey data from India on demographics and health, the nationally-representative National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2015-16. We analyzed data using a traditional regression model, with child marriage as the dependent variable, and 4000+ variables from the survey as the independent variables. We also used three commonly used machine learning algorithms- Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (lasso) or L-1 regularized logistic regression models; L2 regularized logistic regression or ridge models; and neural network models. Finally, we developed and applied a novel and rigorous approach involving expert qualitative review and coding of variables generated from an iterative series of regularized models to assess thematically key variable groupings associated with child marriage. FINDINGS: Analyses revealed that regularized logistic and neural network applications demonstrated better accuracy and lower error rates than traditional logistic regression, with a greater number of features and variables generated. Regularized models highlight higher fertility and contraception, longer duration of marriage, geographic, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities as key correlates; findings shown in prior research. However, our novel method involving expert qualitative coding of variables generated from iterative regularized models and resultant thematic generation offered clarity on variables not focused upon in prior research, specifically non-utilization of health system benefits related to nutrition for mothers and infants. INTERPRETATION: Machine learning appears to be a valid means of identifying key correlates of child marriage in India and, via our innovative iterative thematic approach, can be useful to identify novel variables associated with this outcome. Findings related to low nutritional service uptake also demonstrate the need for more focus on public health outreach for nutritional programs tailored to this population.
Anita Raj, Nabamallika Dehingia, Abhishek Singh et al.
Child marriage is a major concern we read in Pashto poetry. They believe fewer financial resources left people in desperate need to survive, and it has caused both girls and boys to pay the price. Poor parents give away their girls to wealthy men regardless their background check and that child marriage is one of the tragedies that got the attention of Pashto language poets. Before to read poems about child marriage, explanation is needed to the age which is considered as child. According to Afghanistan Civil Law a legal age for a female is 16 and 18 for male. It means a girl can marry at the age of sixteen and a boy at eighteen. It also means a child in Afghanistan is no longer a child as soon he/she reaches 16 and 18. UNFPA reported that child marriages are illegal because both partners did not cross the age they were prescribed by the law. Afghanistan’s minimum age of marriage 16 or 18 is well below the internationally recommended standard of 18. Child marriages are usually aimed at strengthening ties with rival families and tribes, as part of deals or to settle blood feuds and disputes. At the meantime, a financially poor families often end up selling daughters for large dowries that is offered by wealthy mean who by age or much older.
Ahmad Gul Momand, Zabihullah Fikry, Mohammad Qaseem Kashaf
Child marriage in Indonesia is a recurring reality in society. Early marriage is a form of gender inequality, especially for women. Globally, 21 percent of women living in 2020 were married before the age of 18, and 12 million girls under 18 are married each year, or about 23 girls married as children every minute. Various reasons for the high rate of early marriage are not only due to educational, economic, and stigmatizing factors but also due to the low understanding of adolescents about reproductive health, which causes adolescents to have no choice, especially for adolescent girls. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of "MOLKESPRO" monopoly media on adolescents' knowledge about reproductive health. The design of this study was pre-experimental with a pre-post-test design approach. Using the purposive sampling technique, the population was grade 6 elementary school students, as many as 31. In this study, the instrument used was a questionnaire about reproductive health—data analysis using a paired t-test. The results showed that the respondents' knowledge got the less category (35 percent) before being given health education and got a good knowledge category (81 percent) after being given health education. The results obtained p value less than 0.000 (0.000 less than a). Therefore, there is an effect of "MOLKESPRO" on the knowledge of early adolescents about reproductive health. Thus, the "MOLKESPRO" monopoly media can be used by midwives and other health workers in providing health education to early adolescents related to reproductive health, this is because its attractive design can make students enthusiastic to learn materials about reproductive health using the atmosphere created with fun.
Ulfa Nur Khasanah, Sheilla Tania Marcelina, Herawati Mansur
BACKGROUND: India's success in eliminating child marriage is crucial to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal target 5.3. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of child marriage in girls and boys in India and describe its change across 36 states and Union Territories between 1993 and 2021. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, data from five National Family Health Surveys from 1993, 1999, 2006, 2016, and 2021 were used. The study included 310 721 women aged 20-24 years between 1993 and 2021 and 43 436 men aged 20-24 years between 2006 and 2021. Child marriage was defined as marriage in individuals younger than 18 years for men and women. We calculated the annual change in prevalence during the study period for states and Union Territories and estimated the population headcount of child brides and grooms. FINDINGS: Child marriage declined during 1993 to 2021. The all-India prevalence of child marriage in girls declined from 49·4% (95% CI 48·1-50·8) in 1993 to 22·3% (21·9-22·7) in 2021. Child marriage in boys declined from 7·1% (6·9-30·8) in 2006 to 2·2% (1·8-2·7) in 2021. The largest decreases in child marriage occurred between 2006 and 2016. Between 2016 and 2021, a few states and Union Territories saw an increase in prevalence of child marriage in girls (n=6) and boys (n=8) despite declines in the all-India prevalence. In 2021, 13 464 450 women aged 20-24 years and 1 454 894 men aged 20-24 years were estimated to be married as children. INTERPRETATION: One in five girls and nearly one in six boys are still married below the legal age of marriage in India. There remains an urgent need for strengthened national and state-level policy to eliminate child marriage by 2030. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between women's ages at their first marriages and the marital disruption among those who experienced child marriages and those who did not as well as identifies some compromises that women make in their remarriages after previous marital disruptions. METHODS: The data of 57,476 women from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey were analysed using multivariable logistic and linear regressions. Women's compromises in their remarriages were examined by determining the age differences with their current husbands, whether the current husband has another wife and their attitudes toward the justification of intimate partner violence by husbands. RESULTS: Almost 65% of women experienced child marriage, and its prevalence is higher in rural (66.5%) than in urban areas (59.2%). The probability of marital disruptions decreases as the ages at the first marriages rise among women who experienced child marriages and increase among women who did not. Women living in rural areas are less likely than those living in urban areas to report marital dissolution (AOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.73-0.90). Also, women who completed relatively more years of education or have greater wealth are less likely to report marital disruptions and those who never gave birth are more likely to report these (AOR 3.54, 95% CI 3.14-3.99). Women who remarried after previous disruptions are more likely to report that their new husbands are, on average, almost 12 years older than they are, and have another wife. Also, those who experienced marital disruptions are more likely than others to believe that husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain circumstances. CONCLUSION: The odd of marital disruption decreases with the ages at first marriage among women who experienced child marriage and increase among women who did not. There is a curvilinear relationship between women's ages at their first marriages and the probability of marital disruptions. Making compromises in remarriages after disruptions is common. Because marital disruption is increasing, appropriate policies are needed to address the adverse outcomes of divorces that ensue.
