The Key to Limiting Child Marriage is Education

August 9, 2021 Kyle Felter

Pictured is Komal, a 16-year-old child bride, sitting in her home // Photo courtesy of UNFPA/Rajat Ray

What is a childhood without being able to dream? Our parents encourage us to dream, but what if one event renders your dreams invalid? Meet 16-year-old Komal, who once had a dream too. She lives in India, has perfect attendance in school, and dreams of continuing her education. However, her parents forced her to wed a man years older than her. When asked about her academic dreams after her marriage and birthing a child, she replied, “sometimes, when the others are not at home, I read my old schoolbooks and hold my baby and cry.” Sadly, Komal’s story is common worldwide.

International law defines child marriage as any marriage where at least one party is less than 18 years old. These marriages are also frequently forced marriages where consent from the bride, groom, or both is unstated, but the marriage still happens usually because of parental pressure. Despite international conventions citing child marriage as a human rights violation, including “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women” and “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, child marriages still occur illegally and legally around the globe.

Child marriage statistics, especially among young girls, unveil disheartening realities. At least twelve million girls are married before 18 every year, with most marriages occurring in emerging countries and countries undergoing conflict. Child marriages are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These facts do not mean child marriage does not occur in other countries, such as the United States. In fact, there are an estimated 300,000 girls who legally become child brides annually. Worse, the pandemic has only exacerbated this practice. UNICEF estimates that an additional ten million child marriages will occur by 2030 due to pandemic-induced factors like school closures and economic shocks.

All international organizations recognize that child marriage undermines children’s rights and that the practice negatively impacts a child’s well-being. Child brides face higher rates of domestic violence, emotional abuse, infant mortality, among other harmful consequences. However, how can the power of education eradicate this sometimes deadly practice?

Risk factors related to education make it more likely for a young girl to enter a child marriage. School attendance costs often result in parents wanting to rid their daughter to a husband in specific countries. The unfortunate reality is that even for girls who study in school, child marriage may still be in their future like for Komal. Researchers have linked child marriages and dropout rates of child brides many times since they must manage the household and sometimes care for a child instead of attending school. Additionally, researchers have noted that girls with less than three years of education were six times more likely to marry before their 18th birthday than girls with secondary education experience. These statistics demonstrate how a lack of affordable educational opportunities increases the likelihood of a child marriage.

Access to education is viewed as one of the quintessential defenses against child marriage. As children learn about their rights and acquire vocational skills, they can reach their true potential. Similarly, as parents see their children growing up as family contributors with the aid of education, child marriage becomes less appealing. These dynamics underscore why the first action taken by many governments and NGOs to fight child marriage is to keep girls enrolled in school. Research shows that girls who stay in school have lower dropout rates and learn more skills that help them earn future income. Children already in marriages can also re-enroll in schools through education programs. Indeed, governments and nonprofits provide financing for school materials or scholarships to ensure girls have access to education in resource-strained countries.

Another solution blends education and finance. Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs provide monetary allowances to families without the necessary resources to send their daughters to school. These programs pay families or their daughters a regular payment insofar as the daughters do not marry before turning 18. Although there are some arguments against these programs, such as their mixed results in different countries, many governments carry out CCT programs with other educational programming like those described earlier.

UNICEF has advocated for countries to pass laws that outlaw marriages where any party is under 18 since its inception in 1946. UNICEF has adopted this position at various international summits and taken programmatic action on many occasions. One example is UNICEF’s partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in South Asia called the “Global Programme to End Child Marriage”. UNICEF and the UNFPA launched the program in twelve countries with the highest rates of child marriages globally, including countries like India and Nepal in 2016. The program works with governments, NGOs, and citizens to support, among other foci, children’s educational success. The program has saved millions from child marriages and supported education for thousands. In Nepal, for example, 29,000 girls learned valuable life skills on how to live independent lives, and 28,000 girls stayed in school due to material support. As the program rolls out its next phase, international audiences believe it will endure continued success.

Every day, children lose their childhood due to preventable factors. Governments, nonprofits, and individuals must work together to implement educational solutions to prevent child marriages. Any global citizen should work to safeguard children’s futures, which begins with educating oneself on the topic and identifying ways to counteract it. We can support regional nonprofits, such as Girls Not Brides, in their quest to fight child marriage. It is also necessary to engage in advocacy to raise awareness about why the stakes of preventing child marriage are so high for children living now and in the future.

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