Multi-Country Analysis of Effects and Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa

Abstract

This paper is drawn from the findings and recommendations of the UN Women East and Southern Africa led Multi-Country Analytical Study of Legislation, Policies, Interventions and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa undertaken in 2018. The study focused on Africa as a continent but with a deeper lens on 10 study countries (Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco) that are among those with the highest prevalence of child marriage on the continent despite their high-level national commitments to end child marriage. This paper focuses on the findings of the study as they relate to the effects and consequences of child marriage in Africa and in the study countries in particular. Child marriage affects the involved children’s (mostly girls) quality of life in diverse, severe and lasting ways. These effects range from biological (health), to social and economic, all of which impact their lives permanently, especially their reproductive health, human rights and life chances as human beings. From a human rights perspective, child marriage is a violation of the rights of an individual, rooted in gender inequality and an impediment to girls’ social and economic development. In the study countries, the societies where this practice is common, exhibited a low value placed on girls and women, thereby perpetuating this as a norm and continually binding them in a vicious cycle affecting both present and subsequent generations. There is a strong correlation between child marriages, unequal opportunities for women, and low social economic development in those countries with countries that have a high prevalence of the practice. It follows therefore that developing countries have the highest levels of child marriages and that child marriages are most common among the proportion of the population living below the poverty line. The study noted that besides the inherent health risks associated with the practice, child marriages also put the girls at risks of maternal mortality, infection with venereal diseases and HIV as well as affecting their education and wellbeing. Child marriages also subject girls to rape throughout their marriage and increase other forms of gender-based violence such as domestic violence, child labour, loss of freedom isolation for the victims, school drop-out and illiteracy.

Keywords: Child marriage, Child bride, prevalence, survivors, hotspots, UN Women, effects and consequences, women and girls, children, culture, religion, society, families, Africa, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Morocco

DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/50-05

Publication date:July 31^st 2019