Early marriage, marital relations and intimate partner. Ending child marriage in a generation page 3 these programs have taught us a lot about where we should be focusing our efforts to prevent, delay, and mitigate child marriage. Pdf timing of marriage has a various socioeconomic and demographic implications. Volume35,number1,march2009 11 rateforgirlsinthecontrolsiteremainedstable16%and 15%,respectively. Child marriage and infant mortality evidence from ethiopia. There is now greater urgency for global policy action because child brides are increasingly more vulnerable to hiv infection. Protect 5,000 girls from child, early and forced marriage in northern ghana by providing school materials, facilitators to in school girls empowerment clubs, community based nonformal education in reproductive health, democracy and human rights to child brides and out of school girls, oneonone counseling and rehabilitation services for victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse as. A recent study in india found that early marriage is associated with low involvement in the decision to marry, fewer interactions with ones spouse and elevated risk of intimate partner violence. In ethiopia, the practice has decreased over time but more substantially, than a thirdof girls are still married by the age of 18. If traditional marriages are recognised in ethiopia without the need for a civil ceremony or registration process 3. A developmental challenge in africa by jeannette bayisenge assistant lecturer in department of social sciences national university of rwanda abstract this paper explores the issue of early marriage in africa. Child marriage violates girls basic human rights and brings their childhoods to a swift end.
Contested understandings and practices of female child marriage and circumcision in ethiopia 2 summary this paper explores local perspectives on female child marriage and circumcision in ethiopia. The practice of child marriage in ethiopia has shown. Thematic qualitative analysis was conducted to further understand the lives of child brides. Despite challenges, ending early marriage in ethiopia is. Child marriage and psychological wellbeing in niger and ethiopia. Previous research has shown that girls in rural areas are more disadvantaged and suffer the consequences of early marriage the most. Whether a talaq pronounced by a wife in an adjoining country. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern wollega, ethiopia gemechu beyene tuskegee university, alabama, u. The practice of child marriage in ethiopia has shown significant decline in recent years. Globally, 1 in 4 young women alive today were married in childhood versus 1 in 3 in the early 1980s. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls girls in many resourcepoor countries often have little choice about whom or when they marry. April 2011 ethiopia has one of the highest rates of early marriage in the world, with one in two girls marrying before her 18th birthday and one in five girls marrying before the age of 15. Fortyfive per cent of first marriages in ethiopia end in divorce within 30 years, and twothirds of women who divorce do so within the first 5 years of marriage.
Trends in early marriage in shashemene, ethiopia diva portal. Early marriage is at its most severe in ethiopia, though prevalence varies from one region to another. In 2006, pathfinder international ethiopia conducted a crosssectional communitybased study of the incidence, reasons for, and the personal and social consequences of early marriage. I integrated programmes targeting early cohabitation and laws increasing the legal age of marriage in most developing countries e. A number of recent reports on child marriage deserve mention, as they offer new data, summarize the range of programs, or frame the issue in new ways. The universal declaration of human rights recognizes the right to free and full consent to a marriage, acknowledging that consent cannot be free and full when one of the individuals. A study of child marriage among ethnic roma immigrants in. According to unicef, ethiopia has the 15th highest prevalence rate of child marriage in the world and the fifth highest absolute number of child brides 2,104,000. Child marriage, a formal marriage or informal union before age 18, is prevalent across all regions of ethiopia. Researched and compiled by the refugee documentation.
Evidence from ethiopia 2 young lives policy brief 21 july 2014 child marriage is still the norm in ethiopia where the most recent national figures suggest that more than half 58% of. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern. Despite the family code of 2000 that raised the legal age at marriage to 18 for both sexes. Child marriage and harmful traditional practices are the most common socio cultural events in most rural areas of ethiopia. It was prepared through the advancing the agenda of gender equality advantage idiq, the child, early, and forced marriage cefm resource guide task order. October marked one year into the comparative young marriage and parenthood study ymaps that brings together research from young lives ethiopia, peru and the states of andhra pradesh and telangana in india and child frontiers zambia to generate new evidence about what it is like to be an adolescent or young person who is married, in an informal union or a young parent in these settings. According to demographic and health surveys dhs for about 60 countries, in the past 30 years the prevalence. Sussex child marriage and infant mortality 21062017 2 29. Zehadul karim international islamic university of malaysia malaysia abstract though a lot of research have been concerned with school dropout issue for both girls and boys. Rates of early marriage are high but have fallen recently. Determinants of early marriage among female children in sinan district, northwest ethiopia sileshi workineh 2, getiye dejenu kibretb 1, genet degu 3 1 health sciences and medical college, debremarkos university, ethiopia. Nation against early marriage 3 addressing the problem of early marriage offers an opportunity to begin breaking this cycle. Many promising programs outlined in this report show great hope for the future from the faith effect program in ethiopia.
According to the most recent demographic and health survey data from 2011, the median age at which ethiopian women marry is 16. An estimated 45% of first marriages in ethiopia end in divorce, mainly the result of early marriage and childlessness tilson and larson 2000. Most teen pregnancies occur in the context of early marriage. The goe has committed to ending cefm in ethiopia by 2025. So little done but so much to do by muhabie mekonnen mengistu institute of governance, humanities and social sciences, pan african university, yaounde, cameroon email address. Determinants of early marriage among married women in injibara. Protect 5,000 girls from child marriage in ghana globalgiving. It explored the knowledge and attitudes of residents towards early marriage practice. Ethiopia, congo, benin, etc jorge garcia hombrados u. The impact and cost of child marriage prevention in three african settings. For instance, in bolivia, almost as many girls in union are using only traditional contraception 27 per cent as are using modern contraceptive methods 25 per cent. In some countries, quite many early childbirths women having a child before the age of 18 or children being born of mothers younger than 18 may take place outside of marriage.
Rural ethiopia ignores law against child brides ethiopia s government is backing a series of new familyplanning policies, including a ban on marrying girls before theyre 18. Determinants of early marriage among female children in sinan. Community engagement to eliminate bride price, bride. Both practices are widespread still, despite international and national efforts to eradicate. Pdf determinants of early marriage among married women in. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara, ethiopia a summary of the evidence background today, there are nearly 70 million child brides worldwide, with an estimated 142 million more destined for early marriage over the next decade. Nell williams of world vision uk travelled to ethiopia to meet girls at risk of female genital mutilationcutting fgmc and their families. Early marriage in south wollo and east gojjam zones of the.
Early marriage is widely practised in many parts of ethiopia. Early marriage, or child marriage, is defined as the marriage or union between two people in which one or both parties are younger than 18 years of age. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara. Reduced economic selfsufficiency as a result of education cessation and subsequent early marriage is also of particular concern in contexts where the burden of early marriage is highest 1, 10, 11, 14, 16, 22, 2834. Malawi human rights commission l h cultural practices and their impact on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly the rights of women and children in malawi. Ending child marriage united nations population fund. The ecmp has been transformational in helping the government of ethiopia goe develop its ambitious commitment to preventing child, early and forced marriage cefm and female genital mutilationcutting fgmc, as announced at the july 2014 london girl summit. Many study respondentsgirls, parents, and officialsbelieve that marriage after the age of 15 is no longer early. The interplay between community, household and child level.
Child marriage often perpetuates an intergenerational cycle of poverty. Reaching married adolescent girls in ethiopia through the. Early marriage and female genital cutting in ethiopia. In ethiopia however, early childbirths are in a majority of cases a direct consequence of child marriage. Median age at first marriage or union among women aged 20 to 24 years, in selected countries the practice of child marriage is slowly declining. Early marriage contributes to both high primary school dropout and high fertility rates for adolescent girls. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls. Our regression analysis found significant negative associations between very early marriage marriage at 15 years or earlier and overall psychological wellbeing in both niger and ethiopia. In this blog, nell shares some of their voices and explores the links between fgmc and early marriage.
Indeed, dire dawa has the second lowest regional child marriage rate in ethiopia after addis ababa. Amhara region of ethiopia, 30 percent of girls who were not in school said that the primary reason was marriage. Despite the family code of 2000 that raised the legal age at marriage to 18 for both sexes, early family formation is still a common practice which affect many children in ethiopia. Hence, the association between education and early marriage is likely bidirectional 10, 16, 22, 2427. The development of the child, early, and forced marriage resource guide was made possible through the generosity of the united states agency for international development usaid. For instance, in bolivia, almost as many girls in union are using only traditional contraception 27 per cent. Patterning of child marriage in ethiopia child marriage under 18 years is outlawed in ethiopia and awareness of the law is increasing, but millions of girls remain at risk. To that end, this research takes a close look at two areas of india where early marriage. Marriage agreements can take place at a very early age of between 4 to 5 years or sometimes in utero. Early marriages, adolescent and young pregnancies report by the secretariat 1. Ethiopia is one of the 41 countries where early marriage had been. Doing so requires a clear understanding of the culture in which the practice persists. Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today.
The ethiopian economy is based on smallholder agriculture, with more. The impact and cost of child marriage prevention in rural. October 2005 and the newly adopted criminal law of ethiopia. Mar 03, 2016 according to local authorities, the efforts to end the practice of early marriage in dujuma and other rural districts of the dire dawa administrative region have been successful. Harmful traditional practices and child protection ethiopia. Pdf the incidence of child marriage is not only in nepal but also in the world.
Despite large declines in child marriage over the last decade, child marriage in ethiopia is still near 40%, with even higher rates evident in various parts of the country. A guide for global policy actionappeals to key policy makers to improve the quality of life of millions of girls and young women forced into child marriages. According to the 2011 ethiopian demographic health survey edhs, amhara region has the second highest rate of child marriage, 56 per cent, next to benishangulgumuz region which has 58. Child marriage and harmful traditional practices are the most common sociocultural events in most rural areas of ethiopia. In january 2012, the executive board at its th session considered an earlier version of this report. The causes and consequences of early marriage in the. The child, early, and forced marriage cefm resource guide task order is implemented by banyan global in. Latest statistics from the ethiopia demographic health survey csa and icf, 2016 indicate that.
However, researchers found no association between early marriage and decision making or selfefficacy. Ethiopia working paper 1 introduction overview of socio economic context ethiopia, with an area of over 1. According to demographic and health surveys dhs for about 60 countries, in. The impact and cost of child marriage prevention in rural ethiopia. Pdf child marriage in ethiopia a matter of concern i. Early marriage and hiv risks in subsaharan africa, studies in family planning, 353 149160. Progress is most dramatic when it comes to the marriage of girls under 15 years of age. Child marriage is defined as a marriage or union taking place before the age of 18.
When girls get married at early age, their prospects for a healthy and successful life will be at stake. In 2014, ethiopia signed a joint statement at the human rights council calling for a resolution on child marriage. Ethiopia ethiopia s approach to child marriage is closely linked to its work to end fgm and is guided by a national strategy and action plan on harmful traditional practices against women and children, which was launched in 20. A and assefa tolera addis ababa university, ethiopia abstract the present paper is a descriptive study of marriage ceremonies and types of marriage among gidda oromo, northern wollega, ethiopia. Discriminatory family code according to the 2001 family code, the minimum age for marriage in ethiopia is 18 years.
Determinants of early marriage among married women in injibara town, north west ethiopia. Globally, vulnerable and marginalized rural girls and women continue to bear the health risks and social and economic costs of early and forced marriage, non. Determinants of adolescent fertility among rural women of. Therefore, this study investigated early marriage in south wollo and east gojjam zones of ethiopia where its incidence is highly prevalent. Ending child marriage in a generation ford foundation. The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child. Pdf determinants of age at first marriage in addis ababa, ethiopia. Shahidul international islamic university of malaysia malaysia a. Evidence shows that girls who marry early are less likely to finish school and more likely to be victims of domestic violence and abuse. According to an assessment conducted by unicef in 2005, among women ages 15 to 24, 48 percent were married before the age of 18 in south asia, 42 percent in africa, and 29 percent in latin america. Child, early and forced marriage given the young lives focus on children, we use the term child marriage, rather than early or underage marriage to refer to marriage of young people under the age of 18, the threshold accepted internationally as the upper limit of childhood and the legal age of marriage in ethiopia. Researched and compiled by the refugee documentation centre of ireland on 29 august 2011. Jan 15, 2007 rural ethiopia ignores law against child brides ethiopia s government is backing a series of new familyplanning policies, including a ban on marrying girls before theyre 18. Community engagement to eliminate bride price, bride abduction and early marriage in ethiopia by kemal jemal tunne, healthy unions project team leader, care field office in borana email.