A threat to their future: Protecting girls from the consequences of child marriage

When families attempt to marry off their daughters as young as 15, their dreams, such as pursuing a career, can fade away. Fortunately, with support from community organizations, some girls are able to convince their families to wait. However, the sad reality is that at least 12 million girls worldwide are married before the age of 18 each year. On this International Day of the Girl Child, our hope is that girls all over can be free from the threat of child marriage.
 

Stolen Futures: The Devastating Impact on girls and society

Child marriage is a serious threat to a girl’s future. It denies her of fundamental rights, jeopardizes her physical and mental well-being, and limits her opportunities for education and economic empowerment. The inability to continue their education and access employment opportunities due to limited mobility, domestic responsibilities, and early childbearing not only precludes girls from reaching their full potential, it also negatively impacts the overall labor force and economy at large. One study suggests that if child marriage were to end today, the long-term annual per capita real GDP growth in emerging and developing countries could increase by 1.05 percentage points. Unfortunately, myopic priorities such as meeting societal expectations and short-term economic gain often prevent families, communities and nations from reaping the long-term benefits of investing in the future of girls. Consequently, they remain trapped in a cycle of inequality across generations.
 

Laws can help address the problem of child marriage

The problem of child marriage is internationally recognized under several international instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In Africa, where child marriages are highly prevalent, the Maputo Protocol and the African Union Accountability Framework on the Elimination of Harmful Practices prohibit harmful practices and advocate for the protection of girls. Globally, Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 is an urgent call for action by all countries to eliminate all harmful practices, including child marriage. However, these international instruments have not necessarily led to concrete legal and policy action at the national level.

In its latest report, Women, Business and the Law has analyzed child marriage laws in 190 economies globally. The data reveals that 171 economies have set the legal age of marriage at 18 years or above. On the face of it this sounds like good news. Yet a closer look into the laws revealed that most economies lack complementary legal provisions needed to enforce age requirements. In fact, it was found that almost 75% (139 out of 190) economies do not have adequate legislation to address child marriage. Legal age mandates are often accompanied with parental exception provisions, effectively diluting the law, and making it vulnerable to harmful social norms. Child marriage laws also do not always provide a way for girls to exit the marriage by making them void or voidable at their option. Lastly, many economies do not establish criminal penalties for allowing, registering, or celebrating child marriages, thereby allowing perpetrators to escape any consequences.

Regional Disparities

The gap in laws addressing child marriage can be seen across regions and income groups. In the Middle East and North Africa region, for example, Egypt is the only economy out of the 20 economies assessed that has established adequate legal protections against child marriage. Even in regions performing relatively better on the Women, Business and the Law index, such as Europe and Central Asia and the High-Income OECD economies, where all economies have set the legal age of marriage as 18 or above, more than half the economies lack complementary legal provisions, such as disallowing parental consent exceptions, making child marriages void or voidable, or imposing criminal penalties.
 

Beyond the law: Policy Initiatives for change

Having said that, it is important to bear in mind that merely enacting laws is not enough. Legal prohibitions must be accompanied by policy initiatives such as improving access to education, awareness campaigns, sexual and reproductive health services, and community engagement for them to truly benefit girls. Women, Business and the Law has identified 42 economies that have adopted a range of policy measures to curb child marriage. For example, recognizing that child marriage continues to be national problem due to weak enforcement of laws, Sierra Leone adopted the National Strategy for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Marriage 2018-2022. This strategy provides a comprehensive framework for reducing child marriage, including adolescent friendly services, advocacy, community engagement, and monitoring and evaluation. Similarly, in 2016 the Government of Nepal launched a National Strategy to End Child Marriage which focuses on empowering girls, providing quality education, engaging men and boys, mobilizing communities, and changing social norms.
 

A Call to Action

Without proper intervention of governments around the world, the number of girl brides is set to increase 33% by 2050. Therefore, the time to act is now. Child marriage needs to be put on the legislative agenda of law makers around the globe so that girls around the world can reach their full potential and truly thrive.