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More than 60 million girls around the world are married - often at the encouragement of their parents and to much older men - with no say in the decision to marry. If current patterns continue, more than 100 million girls in the developing world will be married during the next 10 years. These marriages occur despite the fact that national laws often prohibit it and that international human rights documents state that marriage should be entered into with the free and full consent of both partners. The rate of child marriage varies greatly by nation and even by region within a country and is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia as well as the Middle East. For example, in Ethiopia's Amhara region, about half of all girls are married by 14 years old.
>> Click here for information resources on ending child marriage.
Our Partners: Working to End Child Marriage
- In the United States, IWHC serves as the co-chair of the Coalition for Adolescent Girls (CAG) and Girls Not Brides: U.S. Partnership to End Child Marriage (Girls Not Brides USA). Together with its partners, IWHC is pressing the U.S. government to increase financial and political commitments to end child marriage.
- In Cameroun, IWHC's partner APAD (Association pour l'Autonomie et les Droits de la Fille/Femme), a youth-led organization whose membership and leadership consists of survivors of early and forced marriage, is spearheading efforts in the Extreme North region to prevent child marriage and support married girls. APAD educates girls and communities about their human rights, including the right to choose whom and when to marry, and provides literacy and skills-building programs to empower survivors of early and forced marriage to be economically independent and lead autonomous lives.
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Tags: Child Marriage
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