Child marriage: “an affront to human dignity and well-being and an impediment to sustainable development”

[Check against delivery]

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) has been recognized under international human rights law as a harmful practice and is often associated with serious forms of violence against women and girls, including intimate partner violence.

Not only is it a grave human rights violation, but it is also an affront to human dignity and well-being and an impediment to sustainable development.  While it is a reality for both boys and girls, it is girls who are disproportionally affected. Approximately 700 million girls worldwide have been married before their eighteenth birthday.  One in every three girls in developing countries is married before reaching age 18 and one in nine is married under age 15.

Despite the slight decrease in prevalence over the past three decades, and an increase in the number of laws against child, early and forced marriage, the practice remains widespread, in part due to inadequate enforcement of laws, and misconceptions about traditional and cultural practices reflecting gender inequality and gender-based discrimination as root causes.

Indigenous and minority women and girls living in strict patriarchal, religious, traditional or caste systems are especially vulnerable to child, early and forced marriage. This is particularly exacerbated in conflict settings, as families see child, early and forced marriage as a way of providing girls with a home and protecting them from sexual violence.

Child, early and forced marriage has a devastating impact on the overall realization and enjoyment of girls’ and women’s rights, in particular, their sexual and reproductive health rights. It is a fundamental denial of their right to and autonomy over their own bodies and their bodily integrity.

Along with other forms of violence against women and girls, including intimate partner violence, trafficking in persons and other harmful practices such as female genital mutilations/cutting, child, early and force marriage is linked to high rates of maternal mortality, lower use of family planning, unwanted pregnancies and usually signals the end of a girl’s education.

Girls who marry in childhood are at greater risk for intimate partner violence than girls of the same age who marry later. There is little or no accountability for those who facilitate child, early or forced marriages, or perpetrate the violence within them, and even less recourse, including shelter and safe accommodation, for those wishing to escape.

Ending the travesty that is child, early and forced marriage and other harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting, have been firmly rooted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under Sustainable Development Goal 5 and Target 5.3, and have been clearly enunciated as barriers to the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

As such, ending violence against women and girls, including harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages, will make a crucial contribution not only to progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, but across all the sustainable goals and targets.

It is critical that we address the root causes of child, early and forced marriage such as gender inequality, gender-based discrimination and gender stereotypes and social norms that condone gender inequality, violence against women and girls and harmful practices, through stepping up our collective work on the 4 P’s of the strategy for the elimination of violence against women, including prevention, prevention, protection, provision of services and prosecution of perpetrators.

To achieve this, UN Women’s work focuses on women’s empowerment, including through education, economic empowerment and enhanced participation to decision-making, as well as on the protection and promotion of the human rights of all women and girls.

Violence against women and girls, including harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, is considered a serious impediment for the achievement of gender equality and ending such violence is one of the core priorities of the organization.

To address this scourge, our efforts must include awareness-raising, constituency-building, and working with our champions—civil society organizations, traditional and religious leaders, men and boys and women and girls at all levels—to drive this movement forward. We must know what are the causes of child, early and forced marriage, and identify what policies and measures work, supported by rigorous collection of data.  

We should no longer rely on justifications for child, early and forced marriage, and indeed, other harmful practices, on the grounds of tradition and culture, or engage in debates on the age of consent, parental permission or whether it is for a girl’s own security.

It is also imperative that Governments seize upon this opportunity of the sustainable development agenda to abandon these harmful practices completely and hold those responsible accountable. Meeting a Target such as SDG 5.3 provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate results in a very tangible and concrete way.

In line with our approach, UN Women is involved in a number of leading global initiatives that address such violence against girls:

The Together for Girls initiative, is a unique public-private partnership, where we work together with UNICEF, UNFPA and other partners to bring attention to the issue of violence against children, in support of country driven efforts for change.

A central component of UN Women’s Youth and Gender Equality Strategy is to strengthen initiatives for the empowerment of young women and develop young men as partners in gender equality, women’s empowerment, and women’s rights. Within this strategy, the “LEAPs” framework calls for strengthening Leadership of women’s Leadership, promoting Economic Empowerment, investing in innovation and skills development of young women, and taking action to end Violence against young women and girls.  

Additionally, the framework makes the strong case for promoting participation, voice, and partnerships with young women, young women led-organizations and networks, as well as strengthening partnerships with young men and intergenerational partnerships to achieve gender equality.

At the country level, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, managed by UN Women, is also addressing child, early and forced marriage in Cambodia, Cameroon, Liberia and Tajikistan as part of its global efforts with the aim of ensuring that women and girls enjoy the right to a life free of violence.

In Kyrgyzstan, advocacy efforts by civil society groups, supported by UN Women, led to the final approval of legislation toughening the sanctions for the broadly practiced custom of bride-kidnapping.

In Malawi, UN Women and its partners have played an integral part in raising awareness of the issue of early child and forced marriages and lobbying for legislative change. In 2015, as a result of consistent advocacy efforts, the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act, was adopted by the national parliament, raising the minimum age of marriage without parental consent to 18 years.

In closing, I would like to echo the call of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no child, girl or boy, or indeed woman, behind. Let’s keep this in mind as we think and work collectively on this issue—how we can ensure we reach everyone, as we move towards eliminating harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages, and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls for good.