WUNRN
ICRW - International Center for
Research on Women
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENT
MARRIED GIRLS - ETHIOPIA PROGRAM
Direct Link to Full 16-Page 2014
Report:
Improving the Lives
of Married, Adolescent Girls in Amhara, Ethiopia
Today,
there are nearly 70 million child brides worldwide, with an estimated 142
million more destined for early marriage over the next decade. Child marriage
violates girls’ basic human rights and brings their childhoods to a swift end.
This
harmful practice is most common in developing nations and is particularly
pervasive across South Asia and Africa, where 50 to 70 percent of girls in some
countries are wed before age 18. In societies where girls are valued less than
boys, marrying girls as young as 10 years old is routinely deemed a smart
economic transaction for poor parents, who, upon their daughter’s marriage,
will have one less child to support and may receive “bride price” – money or
property – from the groom’s family.
In
Amhara, Ethiopia and elsewhere around the globe, many child brides have little
or no have access to reproductive health information or services, and thus
endure a slew of health problems that further cripple their ability to grow
into healthy, productive women. They are at greater risk of sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV. They face complications – and death – as
a result of early pregnancy and childbearing. Further, children born to child
brides are more likely to experience death, malnutrition, stunting and ongoing
health problems than those born to mothers just a few years older.
These
tragic consequences of child marriage not only impact individual girls’ lives;
they also severely undermine global progress on a variety of goals, including
ending poverty, ensuring universal access to education and sexual and
reproductive health, and strengthening economies. Child marriage also slows
efforts to reduce human rights abuses, incidences of maternal mortality and
morbidity, and vulnerability to HIV.
