WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE?
Child marriage denies girls many of their basic human rights, and it puts their health, education, and wellbeing at risk.
1.
If girls who are married used to be in school, child marriage usually ends their formal education.
Families can also stop girls’ schooling when they are planning or arranging a marriage, as it is believed to be pointless for her to continue her education. Not going to school limits girls’ ability to understand their rights or to learn about the law, and stops the development of their learning and skills.
When girls do not understand their rights and have no awareness of the law, it is much more difficult for them to speak up or prevent further violations of her rights.
If a girl has limited education, she is much less likely to be able to get decent work in adulthood.
A lack of education limits girls’ independence and freedom, and can prevent her from being able to protect herself and her children well into adulthood. For example, if a girl who has been married as a child learns about her rights later in life, she and her children will already have become financially dependent on her husband. If she is subjected to violence or abuse by her husband, she may be scared of taking action to protect herself and her children.
2.
When a girl enters a marriage, she usually ends up working long hours undertaking many household chores. This is likely to be child labour.
Married girls usually leave their own family and go to live with their husband and his family, and the expectation will be that she must undertake chores such as cleaning and cooking. However, undertaking too many hours of work in the household is called domestic servitude, which means that child marriage effectively makes many married girls child labourers.
3.
In societies where child marriage occurs, physical violence against women and girls by their husbands is more likely to happen.
This is because of the power dynamics between a girl and a husband who is usually an adult, and likely to be much older than her. In such societies and communities, violence by a husband against his spouse - of any age - is more likely to be believed to be ‘acceptable’.
4.
Child marriage and power dynamics also make girls vulnerable to sexual abuse and rape.
Many child marriages occur when a girl is below the legal age of consent for sexual relations, which would mean that a husband having sex with a wife under this age is rape. However, many countries do not recognise rape if it occurs inside a marriage, and very few countries make it illegal for an adult spouse to have sexual relations with a child they are married to.
5.
Girls in child marriages with adult men are less likely to be able to plan when they can have children or to protect themselves against diseases which can be transmitted by sexual relations
This kind of protection is known as contraception. Even if a married girl knows about different forms of contraception, she is less likely to be able to get access to it. There are lots of reasons for this.
Lack of education: girls who have had little education are less likely to understand or know about contraception.
Power dynamics: if a girl understands contraception, she may be prevented from using it by her husband. She may also be unable to go out and get contraceptives herself.
Traditional beliefs around child marriage: if a girl has been married off in the belief that a girl’s role is to become a wife and mother, there is likely to be an expectation that she begins to have children soon after she becomes a wife. Adult men who marry girls may have chosen to do so because they want to have a lot of children, and believe that the younger a girl starts to have children, the more children she is able to have in her lifetime.
Lack of availability: in lots of poorer countries, contraception is difficult to access, for example due to cost, lack of healthcare facilities which provide contraceptives, or the government not making contraceptives available even if there are healthcare facilities. In low- and middle-income countries, 26% of married girls (aged 15-19) who want contraception cannot get access to it for these reasons.
6.
When a married girl becomes pregnant, her health is put at risk, as her body may not be developed enough to cope with the strain of pregnancy.
This creates a higher chance of health complications, and even death as a result of early childbirth or complications related to childbirth. Early childbirth also risks the health and survival of the baby.
A 2022 UN report found that 74% of girls who have their first child when they are 14 years old or younger also have a second child while they are still children, and 48% of girls who have their first baby when they are aged 15-17 have a second baby while they are still children. Having multiple births when a girl is still a child puts significant strain on her body, and increases her risk of health complications.
7.
If a girl’s husband has a disease or virus which can be transmitted through sexual relations, a lack of access to contraceptives like condoms makes her very likely to get the disease herself.
This includes the HIV virus, and in many countries this virus can still be fatal. Other diseases can make women unable to become pregnant, such as chlamydia or gonorrhoea.
8.
When girls are married and are denied their rights, especially to education, their ability to ensure their own children receive their rights is limited.
