Each year, some 10 million girls are compelled to marry before they reach age 18—the age the world has agreed upon as the beginning of adulthood under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The precise reasons for child marriage differ from one society to the next, but all too often the devastating effects on girls’ health, education, earning power and independence are the same.
Produced with support from the foundation’s Youth Sexuality, Reproductive Health and Rights initiative, this report by Margaret E. Greene aims to provoke discussion in the field and clarify what we need to know to bring an end to this deeply harmful practice. By mapping current knowledge of child marriage and the programs designed to address it, and highlighting questions that remain unanswered, it helps move us closer to meaningful change….