Child marriage and sexual and reproductive health and rights

Girls who are – or have been – married (ever-married girls), pregnant or parents often have little control over their own sexual and reproductive choices; they also have specific needs that health care, education and social service systems often do not adequately address.[1]

An estimated 640 million girls and women alive today were married or in a union before age 18,[2] and 12 million more girls marry every year[3] – that is the scale of response needed to ensure all girls and women can enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).[a]

What this brief includes

• An exploration of the links between child marriage[b] and SRHR, and progress made since the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development
• Evidence-based strategies to prevent child marriage and promote SRHR
• Case studies showcasing promising practises from Girls Not Brides member organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Recommendations – validated with Girls Not Brides member organisations – for governments, United Nations (UN) Agencies, donors and civil society organisations to address child marriage and enhance support for adolescents' and young people's SRHR.

Key takeaways

• Child marriage is rooted in gender inequality and deprives girls and young women of their fundamental rights – including their SRHR – and significantly limits their life choices. Ending child marriage and enhancing access to quality, stigma-free, affordable SRHR services will significantly enhance the health and development outcomes for millions of children, adolescents and women around the world.
• Child marriage often drives early or adolescent pregnancy and has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women, and their children. It leads to increased risks of depression, intimate partner violence (IPV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), cervical cancer and maternal mortality. Children born to adolescent mothers are at a higher risk of low birth weight, premature birth and severe neonatal complications.[4]
• Adolescent pregnancy can drive child marriage, especially where pre-marital sexuality is taboo and virginity is connected to notions of purity and family honour,[5] where contraception is scarce or inaccessible, and where safe abortion services are limited.[6]
• A comprehensive, multi-sectoral, rights-based, gender-transformative approach – delivered through partnerships – are needed to ensure girls can decide for themselves when and with whom to have sex, marry and have children, to negotiate safe sexual practices, access appropriate and quality SRHR services, and enjoy better sexual and reproductive health.
• Zero child marriage and universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services by 2030 are globally agreed commitments.

Acknolwedgements

This brief was prepared by Rachael Hongo, Senior Data, Evidence and Policy Officer, Girls Not Brides. It was copyedited by Emma Sadd, Senior Coordinator for Shared Knowledge Management, Girls Not Brides. It also includes valuable insights from the Girls Not Brides team and member organisations, including:

Girls Not Brides

Emma Pearce, Senior Officer – Child Marriage and Education, Girls Not Brides

Georgiana Epure, Global Advocacy and Campaigns Interim Manager, Girls Not Brides

Jacky Repila, Senior Gender Advisor, Girls Not Brides

Jean Casey, Research and Humanitarian Manager, Girls Not Brides

Lara van Kouterik, Acting Director of Learning, Evidence and Impact/ Head of Partnership

Sophia Lane, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer, Girls Not Brides

Girls Not Brides member orgsanisations

Ajay Kumar, Pratigya, India

Dorinda Odonghanro, Child and Youth Protection Foundation, Nigeria

Dushala Adhikari, Centre for Agro-Ecology and Development, Nepal

Jiratudeen Abdur-rashid, Girl Child Concern, Nepal

Lydia Hounon Hedwige, Niger

Marcia Jorge Mandlate, Associação Moçambicana para o Desenvolvimento da Família, Mozambique

Noëlie Sinare, l'Association D'appui et d'Eveil Pugsada, Burkina Faso

Rajen Kumar, Sinduartola Gramodaya Vikas Vidyalaya, India

Tike Mwambipile, Tanzania Women Lawyers Association, Tanzania