Every day, over 20,000 under-aged girls are married off illegally according to research from Save the Children and the World Bank. When you total up that amount, it means that every year approximately 7.5 million girls are illegally married. If that is not jarring enough, close to 100 million girls are simply unprotected from child marriage by the laws of their countries. The good news is a rising number of countries are raising the legal age of marriage and binning exceptions to these laws such as parental consent. However, it still remains a challenge to implement such laws.
The practice is firmly entrenched
Over two-thirds of all child marriages which take place are with brides who are under the minimum age permitted by national law which shows just how hard it is to eliminate the practice. Enforcement of the law is minimal and there is also a disconnect between national law as well as customs and religious practice. Traditional leaders in many communities often lend their support to the practice which makes it very hard to eliminate.
Unequal opportunities
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Save the Children International CEO says we will not live in a world where girls and boys have equal opportunities in life until the practice of child marriage is eradicated. When an underage girl is married off, her role as both wife and mother take precedence over everything else and she is likely to drop out from school, get pregnant and perhaps even be abused. The first step is to enact laws banning the practice Ms Thorning-Schmidt says. However, millions of girls will continue to be vulnerable and at risk of child marriage unless the issue is tackled head on. The attitudes of communities must be changed so this practice can be ended once and for all.
Conference on child marriage
The research results come in advance of an African led conference on ending child marriage which took place at the end of October. First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Koroma said the meeting was meant to establish an understanding of child marriage, what its consequences are and what solutions there are to the problem. Delegates looked at policies and legal frameworks surrounding child marriage and shared their successes and issues they face combating the practice.
West and Central Africa problem regions
Some of the highest rates of child marriage globally occur in West and Central Africa. In that part of the world alone, 1.7 million child marriages take place every year below the national legal minimum age. Many countries in the region also face the problem of high rates of teen pregnancy outside of marriage which is more often than not the product of gender related violence and exploitation which usually go unpunished.
Reform at national and international levels
Save the Children and the World Bank are both demanding urgent action be taken to deal with the issue of child marriage at both national and international levels. The organisations are calling for legal reform to set the minimum age for marriage at 18 and getting rid of any exceptions. They are also seeking to develop national strategies that will allow the state to intervene particularly to enable girls to remain in school instead of forcing them to get married.
