CHILD Protection & Rights > Child Protection Issues.

E – Protecting Children from Child Marriage

Defining Child Marriage

Child marriage involves the marriage of anyone below the age of 18. It is the marriage of a child to an adult or another child, and may be legally condoned by national laws.

These marriages are often unregistered and unofficial but they can also be given legal sanction because of legislative loopholes that in fact camouflage the sexual exploitation of children. They are arranged in various ways and involve both boys and girls. It is more usual for girls to be married to boys and men who are older than them while boys are more commonly married to girls of a similar age.

Such marriages may be arranged between two very young children but mostly girls may be married to much older men who are more able to pay the dowries expected or demanded by a family. As such, girls are often the vulnerable party in child marriages. Many children may know their marriage partner and have been raised with him or her. Others may be married to strangers.

The practice of girls marrying at a young age is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, in the Middle East, North Africa and other parts of Asia, marriage at, or shortly after, puberty is common among some groups. There are also parts of West and Eastern Africa and South Asia where marriages much earlier than puberty are not unusual. The marriage of girls between the ages of 16 and 18 is common in parts of Latin America and Eastern Europe. It is hard to know the number of early marriages, as so many are unregistered and unofficial.

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