Child Marriage

 

     Child marriage is an issue around the world, with hundreds of thousands of children, mostly girls, being wed to mostly older males every year in the United States alone. Rooted in gender equality, child marriage leads to lower rates of literacy and employment as well as higher rates of crime victimization, poverty, and illness. Resources and aid available to adult women are not available to underage girls. Globally, up to 12 million are married every year, costing the global economy tens of billions of dollars while wrecking the lives of girls.

     In Africa, the problem is worse. Niger, Chad, Mali, Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Mozambique are the nations with among the highest rates. Niger, Chad, and Mali, as well as Ethiopia, had the highest rate of young girls being married.

     Globally, there has been a decline of roughly 25% in child marriages over the past 10 years, and legislation is being rapidly introduced to close loopholes that allow the human rights abuse. However, population increases and the continued gender equality perpetuated make this an urgent issue.