Child marriage
Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between an adult and a child under a certain age, typically age eighteen.[1] The child can be a girl or a boy, but the large majority of child marriages are between a girl and a man,[2][3] and are rooted in gender inequality.[2][4]
Although the age of majority (legal adulthood) and marriageable age are usually designated at age 18, both vary across countries and therefore the marriageable age may be older or younger in a given country.[5] Even where the age is set at 18 years, cultural traditions may override legislation and many jurisdictions permit earlier marriage with parental consent or in special circumstances, such as teenage pregnancy.[6]
Child marriage violates the rights of children and has widespread and long-term consequences for child brides and child grooms.[2][5] For girls, in addition to mental health issues and a lack of access to education and career opportunities,[2] this includes adverse health effects as a result of early pregnancy (including teenage pregnancy) and childbirth.[5] There is little research on boys in child marriages, but effects on boys include being ill-prepared for certain responsibilities such as providing for the family, early fatherhood, and a lack of access to education and career opportunities.[5] Child marriage is related to child betrothal, and it includes civil cohabitation and court approved early marriages after teenage pregnancy.[7][8] Causes of child marriages include poverty, bride price, dowry, cultural traditions, religious and social pressures, regional customs, fear of the child remaining unmarried into adulthood, illiteracy, and perceived inability of women to work for money.[4][9][10] Research indicates that comprehensive sex education can help to prevent child marriage.[11]
Child marriages were common throughout history. Today, child marriage is still fairly widespread, particularly in developing countries, such as parts of Africa,[12][13] South Asia,[14] Southeast Asia,[15][16] West Asia,[17][18] Latin America,[17] and Oceania.[19] However, even in developed countries such as the United States legal exceptions mean that 17 US states have no minimum age requirement.[20] The incidence of child marriage has been falling in most parts of the world. 2018 data from UNICEF showed that about 21 percent of young women worldwide (aged 20 to 24) were married as children; this is a 25 percent decrease from 10 years previously.[21] The countries with the highest observed rates of child marriages below the age of 18 were Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, and Nepal, with a rate above 50%.[22] Niger, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali and Ethiopia were the countries with child marriage rates greater than 20% below the age of 15, according to 2003–2009 surveys.[23][24] Every year globally, 12 million girls are married under the age of 18.[25]
History
_Liverpool_museums.jpg)
_to_Louis_Auguste%2C_Dauphin_of_France_in_front_of_Louis_XV_and_the_court_at_Versailles.jpg)
Before the industrial revolution, in many parts of the world, including India, China and Eastern Europe, women tended to marry immediately after reaching puberty, in their mid-teens. Societies where most of the population lived in small agricultural communities were characterized by these marriage practices well into the 19th century.[26] Men tended to marry later in societies where a married couple was expected to establish a household of their own. That usually meant that men remained unmarried until they accumulated sufficient wealth to support a new home, and were married in their mature age to adolescent girls, who contributed a dowry to the family finances.[27]
In ancient and medieval societies it was common for girls to be betrothed at, or even before, puberty.[28][29] According to M.A. Friedman, "arranging and contracting the marriage of a young girl were the undisputed prerogatives of her father in ancient Israel." Most girls were married before the age of 15, often at the start of their puberty.[30] In the Middle Ages the age at marriage seems to have been around puberty throughout the Jewish world.[31]
Ruth Lamdan writes: "The numerous references to child marriage in the 16th-century Responsa literature and other sources, shows that child marriage was so common, it was virtually the norm. In this context, it is important to remember that in halakha, the term "minor" refers to a girl under twelve years and a day. A girl aged twelve and a half was already considered an adult in all respects."[32]
In Ancient Greece, early marriage and motherhood for girls was encouraged.[33] Even boys were expected to marry in their teens. Early marriages and teenage motherhood were typical. In Ancient Rome, girls married above the age of 12 and boys above 14.[34] In the Middle Ages, under English civil laws that were derived from Roman laws, marriages before the age of 16 were common. In Imperial China, child marriage was the norm.[35][36]
In contrast to other pre-modern societies, and for reasons that are subject to debate, Northwest Europe was characterized by relatively late marriages for both men and women, with both sexes commonly delaying marriage until their mid-20s or even 30s.[27][26] The data available for England suggest that it was already the case in the 14th century. This pattern was reflected in English common law, which was the first in Europe to establish statutory rape laws and ages of consent for marriage. In 1275 sexual relations with girls under either 12 or 14 (depending on interpretation of the sources) were criminalized; the age was reduced to 10 in 1576. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the British colonial administration introduced marriage age restrictions for Hindu and Muslim girls on the Indian subcontinent.[26]
A Scottish physician living in 18th century Syria reported that locals tried to contract marriages for their children at a young age, but the marriage was not consummated until the girl "had come of age". Evidence from 19th century Palestine suggests that husbands sometimes initiated sexual relations before their wife reached puberty, but that it was a rare occurrence, condemned socially and censured by sharia courts. Writing in 1830s, Edward William Lane observed that few Egyptian girls remained single by the age of 16, but socio-economic transformation, educational reforms and influence of Western norms brought significant changes, and by 1920 fewer than 10% of Egyptian women married before the age of 20. In 1923, Egypt's parliament set the minimum age of marriage at 16 for women and 18 for men.[37]
Religion
In the Hindu holy book, the Vedas, marriage is shown to be between two adult persons after the Brahmacharya stage.[38] The Vedas, specifically the Rigveda and Atharvaveda, have verses that clearly indicate that during the Vedic Period, girls married well after attaining puberty and were of a mature age.[39] The early Dharmaśāstra (Dharmasutras) also state that girls should be married after they have attained puberty[40] while some texts extend the marriageable age to before puberty.[41] In the Manusmriti, which was not implemented as law[42], a father is considered to have wronged his daughter if he fails to marry her before puberty and if the girl is not married in less than three years after reaching puberty, she can search for the husband herself.[43]
Jewish scholars and rabbis strongly discouraged marriages before the onset of puberty,[30] but at the same time, in exceptional cases, girls ages 3 through 12 (the legal age of consent according to halakha) might be given in marriage by her father.[44][45] By Judaism, the minimal girl age, for marriage, was 12 years and one day, "na'arah", as mentioned in the ancient Talmud Mishnah books (compiled between 536 BCE – 70 CE, redacted in the 3rd century CE), Order Nashim Masechet Kiddushin 41 a & b.[46]
According to Halakha girls should not marry until they are 12 years and six months old, "bogeret".[47][48] Although Moses Maimonides mentions in the Talmud Mishneh Torah (compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE) that in exceptional cases girls ages three through 12 might be given in marriage by her father,[44][49] he also clarifies in verse 3:19 of the same chapter that: "Although a father has the option of consecrating his daughter to anyone he desires while she is a minor or while she is a maiden, it is not proper for him to act in this manner".[50]
According to the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia, apocryphal accounts that, at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was 12–14 years old.[51]
Historically within the Catholic Church, prior to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the minimum age for a dissoluble betrothal (sponsalia de futuro) was seven years in the contractees. The minimum age for a valid marriage was puberty, or nominally 14 for males and 12 for females.[52] The 1917 Code of Canon Law raised the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.[53] The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintained the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.[54](c. 1083 §1)[lower-alpha 1]
English ecclesiastical law forbade marriage of a girl before the age of puberty.[56]
There is no minimum marriage age defined in traditional Islamic law, and the legal discussion of this topic centered primarily on women's physical maturity. Classical Sunni jurisprudence allows a father to contract a marriage for his underaged girl. Appropriate age for consummating the marriage, which could occur several years after signing the marriage contract, was to be determined by the bride, groom and the bride's guardian, since medieval jurists held that the age of fitness for intercourse was too variable for legislation.[57] This was based in part on the precedent set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as described in the hadith collections considered to be authentic by Muslims. According to these sources, Muhammad married Aisha, his third wife, when she was about six,[lower-alpha 2] and consummated the marriage when she was about nine.[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4] As a general rule, intercourse was prohibited for girls "not able to undergo it", on the grounds of potential physical harm. Disputes regarding physical maturity between the involved parties were to be resolved by a judge, potentially after examination by a female expert witness.[57] Some modern Muslim authors and Islamic scholars, such as Ali Gomaa, who served as the Grand Mufti of Egypt, doubt the traditionally accepted narrative and believe based on other evidence that Aisha was in her late teens at the time of her marriage.[58] The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the Ottoman empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, set at 12 for boys and nine for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, sharia-based legislation in most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 13–16 for girls.[59]
Effects on each gender
Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls, from their health (mental and physical), education and social development perspectives.[2] These consequences last well beyond adolescence.[60] One of the most common causes of death for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries was pregnancy and childbirth.[61] In Niger, which is estimated as having the highest rate of child marriage in the world, about 3 in 4 girls marry before their 18th birthday.[62][63]
Boys are sometimes married as children; UNICEF states that "girls [are] disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one sixth that among girls."[4] Research on the effects of child marriage on underage boys is scant, which researchers state is likely because child marriage involving boys is less common and girls being at risk for adverse health effects as a result of early pregnancy and childbirth.[5] The effects of child marriage on boys include being ill-prepared for certain responsibilities such as providing for the family, early fatherhood, and a lack of access to education and career opportunities.[5] As of September 2014, 156 million living men were married as underage boys.[64]
Causes of child marriage
According to UNFPA, factors that promote and reinforce child marriage include poverty and economic survival strategies; gender inequality; sealing land or property deals or settling disputes; control over sexuality and protecting family honour; tradition and culture; and insecurity, particularly during war, famine or epidemics.[65] Other factors include family ties in which marriage is a means of consolidating powerful relations between families.[65]
Dowry and brideprice
Providing a girl with a dowry at her marriage is an ancient practice which continues in some parts of the world. This requires parents to bestow property on the marriage of a daughter, which is often an economic challenge for many families. The difficulty to save and preserve wealth for dowry was common, particularly in times of economic hardship, or persecution, or unpredictable seizure of property and savings. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girls, irrespective of her age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. Thus, Goitein notes that European Jews would marry their girls early, once they had collected the expected amount of dowry.[66]
A bride price is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the price she may fetch.[67][68] This practice creates an economic incentive where girls are sought and married early by her family to the highest bidder. Child marriages of girls is a way out of desperate economic conditions, or simply a source of income to the parents.[69][70][71] Bride price is another cause of child marriage and child trafficking.[9][10][72][73]
Bride kidnapping
Bride kidnapping, also known as bridenapping,[74] marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a male abducts[75] the female he wishes to marry. Bride kidnapping has been practiced around the world and throughout history. It continues to occur in countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus region, and parts of Africa, and among peoples as diverse as the Hmong in Southeast Asia, the Tzeltal in Mexico, and the Romani in Europe.
In most nations, bride kidnapping is considered a crime rather than a valid form of marriage. Some types of it may also be seen as falling along the continuum between forced marriage and arranged marriage. However, even when the practice is against the law, judicial enforcement remains lax in some areas. Bride kidnapping occurs in various parts of the world, but it is most common in the Caucasus and Central Asia.[76] Bride kidnapping is often (but not always) a form of child marriage.[77] It may be connected to the practice of bride price, and the inability or unwillingness to pay it.[78]
Persecution, forced migration, and slavery
Social upheavals such as wars, major military campaigns, forced religious conversion, taking natives as prisoners of war and converting them into slaves, arrest and forced migrations of people often made a suitable groom a rare commodity. Bride's families would seek out any available bachelors and marry them to their daughters, before events beyond their control moved the boy away. Persecution and displacement of Roma and Jewish people in Europe, colonial campaigns to get slaves from various ethnic groups in West Africa across the Atlantic for plantations, Islamic campaigns to get Hindu slaves from India across Afghanistan's Hindu Kush as property and for work, were some of the historical events that increased the practice of child marriage before the 19th century.[66][79][80]
Among Sephardi Jewish communities, child marriages became frequent from the 10th to 13th centuries, especially in Muslim Spain.[81] This practice intensified after the Jewish community was expelled from Spain, and resettled in the Ottoman Empire. Child marriages among the Eastern Sephardic Jews continued through the 18th century in Islamic majority regions.[81][82][83]
Fear, poverty, social pressures and sense of protection
_Ellen_Terry_('Choosing')_by_George_Frederic_Watts.jpg)
A sense of social insecurity has been a cause of child marriages across the world. For example, in Nepal, parents fear likely social stigma if adult daughters (past 18 years) stay at home. Other fear of crime such as rape, which not only would be traumatic but may lead to less acceptance of the girl if she becomes victim of a crime.[84] For example, girls may not be seen as eligible for marriage if they are not virgins.[85] In other cultures, the fear is that an unmarried girl may engage in illicit relationships,[86] or elope causing a permanent social blemish to her siblings, or that the impoverished family may be unable to find bachelors for grown-up girls in their economic social group. Such fears and social pressures have been proposed as causes that lead to child marriages. Insofar as child marriage is a social norm in practicing communities, the elimination of child marriage must come through a changing of those social norms. The mindset of the communities, and what is believed to be the proper outcome for a child bride, must be shifted to bring about a change in the prevalence of child marriage.[87]
Extreme poverty may make daughters an economic burden on the family, which may be relieved by their early marriage,[88] to the benefit of the family as well as the girl herself. Poor parents may have few alternatives they can afford for the girls in the family; they often view marriage as a means to ensure their daughter's financial security and to reduce the economic burden of a growing adult on the family.[6][89] Child marriage can also be seen as means of ensuring a girl's economic security, particularly if she lacks family members to provide for her.[90] In reviews of Jewish community history, scholars[91][92][93] claim poverty, shortage of grooms, uncertain social and economic conditions were a cause for frequent child marriages.
.jpg)
An additional factor causing child marriage is the parental belief that early marriage offers protection. Parents feel that marriage provides their daughter with a sense of protection from sexual promiscuity and safe from sexually transmitted infections.[6][68] However, in reality, young girls tend to marry older men, placing them at an increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.
Protection through marriage may play a specific role in conflict settings. Families may have their young daughters marry members of an armed group or military in hopes that she will be better protected. Girls may also be taken by armed groups and forced into marriages.[90]
Religion, culture and civil law
Although the general marriageable age is 18 in the majority of countries, most jurisdictions allow for exceptions for underage youth with parental and/or judicial consent.[65] Such laws are neither limited to developing countries, nor to state religion. In some countries a religious marriage by itself has legal validity, while in others it does not, as civil marriage is obligatory. For Catholics incorporated into the Latin Church, the 1983 Code of Canon Law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.[54](c. 1083 §1)[lower-alpha 1] In 2015, Spain raised its minimum marriageable age to 18 (16 with court consent) from the previous 14.[94] In Mexico, marriage under 18 is allowed with parental consent, from age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys.[95] In Ukraine, in 2012, the Family Code was amended to equalize the marriageable age for girls and boys to 18, with courts being allowed to grant permission to marry from age 16 years if it is established that the marriage is in the best interest of the youth.[96]
Many states in the US permit child marriages, with court's permission. Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."[97] The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."[98] In the UK, marriage is allowed for 16–17 years old with parental consent in England and Wales as well as in Northern Ireland, and even without parental consent in Scotland.[99] However, a marriage of a person under 16 is void under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.[100] The United Nations Population Fund stated the following:[65]
In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental consent or approval by a pertinent authority. However, in 146 countries, state or customary law allows girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of parents or other authorities; in 52 countries, girls under age 15 can marry with parental consent. In contrast, 18 is the legal age for marriage without consent among males in 180 countries. Additionally, in 105 countries, boys can marry with the consent of a parent or a pertinent authority, and in 23 countries, boys under age 15 can marry with parental consent.
Lower legally allowed marriage age does not necessarily cause high rates of child marriages. However, there is a correlation between restrictions placed by laws and the average age of first marriage. In the United States, per 1960 Census data, 3.5% of girls married before the age of 16, while an additional 11.9% married between 16 and 18. States with lower marriage age limits saw higher percentages of child marriages.[34] This correlation between higher age of marriage in civil law and observed frequency of child marriages breaks down in countries with Islam as the state religion. In Islamic nations, many countries do not allow child marriage of girls under their civil code of laws. But, the state recognized Sharia religious laws and courts in all these nations have the power to override the civil code, and often do. UNICEF reports that the top eight nations in the world with highest observed child marriage rates are Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh (64%), Guinea (63%), Central African Republic (61%), Mozambique (56%), and Nepal (51%).[22]
Marriageable age in religious sources
Catholic Church
| Male consent | Female consent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic Church | 16 | 14 | Diriment impediment (can. 1083 § 1).[101] Conferences of Bishops can adopt a higher age for liceity[lower-alpha 5] (§ 2). Marriage against the worldly power's directive need permission by the Ordinary for liceity (can. 1071 § 1 no. 2), which in case of sensible and equal laws regarding marriage age is regularly not granted. The permission by the Ordinary is also required in case of a marriage of a minor child (i.e. under 18 years old) when his parents are unaware of his marriage or if his parents reasonably oppose his marriage (can. 1071 § 1 no. 6). |
Higher ages are set by Conferences of Bishops in specific countries.
Islam
In classical Islamic law, suitability for marital relations is conditional on physical maturity (bulugh) and mental maturity (rushd). Classical jurists did not stipulate a minimum marriageable age because they did not believe that maturity is reached by everyone at a specific age.[102][103][98][104][105] Büchler and Schlater observe that "marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation". Traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence (madhaahib) define the age of full legal capacity to enter marriage as follows:[106]
| Male age | Female age | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shafi'i | 15 | 15 | |
| Hanbali | 15 | 15 | |
| Maliki | 17 | 17 | |
| Hanafi | 12-18 | 9-17 | Marriageable age is whenever the person reaches puberty, which may vary person to person. Listed ages are when Hanafis presume puberty occurs in males and females.[107] |
| Jafari | 15 | 9 | Shia |
According to Büchler and Schlater, while marriageable age is not the same as legal majority under civil law, these age limits may correspond.[106]
The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the Ottoman empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, which followed the traditional Hanafi ages of legal majority of 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 13-16 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence is subject to approval by a judge and the legal guardian of the adolescent. Egypt diverged from this pattern by setting the age limits of 18 for boys and 16 for girls, without a distinction between competence for marriage and minimum age.[59] In 2020, Saudi Arabia officially banned all marriages under the age of 18.[108] The push to ban child marriage was initially opposed by senior clergy, who argued that a woman reaches adulthood at puberty.[109] However, by 2019 the Saudi Shura Council had outlawed marriages under the age of 15, and required court approval for those under 18.[110]
Hinduism
The Manu Smriti recommends arranged marriages for girls within three years from attainment of puberty. If unmarried, after this period, the girl may marry on her own will somebody from her own caste and rank by freewill. A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of twenty-four a girl eight years of age; if (the performance of) his duties would (otherwise) be impeded, (he must marry) sooner.[111]
Politics and financial relationships
Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy in some cultures, as in the European feudal era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families were able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry.[112] The betrothal is considered a binding contract upon the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.
Effects of child marriage on global regions
A UNFPA report stated that "For the period 2000–2011, just over one third (an estimated 34 per cent) of women aged 20 to 24 years in developing regions were married or in union before their eighteenth birthday. In 2010 this was equivalent to almost 67 million women. About 12 per cent of them were married or in union before age 15."[65] The prevalence of child marriage varies substantially among countries.[65] Around the world, girls from rural areas are twice as likely to marry as children as those from urban areas.[113]
Africa
.jpg)
According to UNICEF, Africa has the highest incidence rates of child marriage, with over 50% of girls marrying under the age of eighteen in five nations.[22] Girls in West and Central Africa have the highest risk of marrying in childhood. Niger has one of the highest rates of early marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. Among Nigerien women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, 76% reported marrying before the age of eighteen and 28% reported marrying before the age of fifteen.[114] This UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey between 1995 and 2004, and the current rate is unknown given lack of infrastructure and in some cases, regional violence.[115]
African countries have enacted marriageable age laws to limit marriage to a minimum age of 16 to 18, depending on jurisdiction. In Ethiopia, Chad and Niger, the legal marriage age is 15, but local customs and religious courts have the power to allow marriages below 12 years of age.[116] Child marriages of girls in West Africa and Northeast Africa are widespread.[117] Additionally, poverty, religion, tradition, and conflict make the rate of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa very high in some regions.[68][118]
In many traditional systems a man pays a bride price to the girl's family in order to marry her (comparable to the customs of dowry and dower). In many parts of Africa, this payment, in cash, cattle, or other valuables, decreases as a girl gets older. Even before a girl reaches puberty, it is common for a married girl to leave her parents to be with her husband. Many marriages are related to poverty, with parents needing the bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate, and house the rest of the family. In Mali, the female:male ratio of marriage before age 18 is 72:1; in Kenya, 21:1.[68]
The various reports indicate that in many Sub-Saharan countries, there is a high incidence of marriage among girls younger than 15. Many governments have tended to overlook the particular problems resulting from child marriage, including obstetric fistulae, premature births, stillbirth, sexually transmitted diseases (including cervical cancer), and malaria.[68]
In parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria many girls are married before the age of 15, some as young as 7.[114] In parts of Mali 39% of girls are married before the age of 15. In Niger and Chad, over 70% of girls are married before the age of 18.[68]
As of 2006, 15–20% of school dropouts in Nigeria were the result of child marriage.[119] In 2013, Nigeria attempted to change Section 29, subsection 4 of its laws and thereby prohibit child marriages. Christianity and Islam are each practiced by roughly half of its population, and the country continues with personal laws from its British colonial era laws, where child marriages are forbidden for its Christians and allowed for its Muslims.[120][121] Child marriage is a divisive topic in Nigeria and widely practiced. In northern states, predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15.[122]
In 2016, during a feast ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced that child and forced marriages were banned.[123][124]
In 2015, Malawi passed a law banning child marriage, which raises the minimum age for marriage to 18.[125] This major accomplishment came following years of effort by the Girls Empowerment Network campaign, which ultimately led to tribal and traditional leaders banning the cultural practice of child marriage.[126]
In Morocco, child marriage is a common practice. Over 41,000 marriages every year involve child brides.[127] Before 2003, child marriages did not require a court or state's approval. In 2003, Morocco passed the family law (Moudawana) that raised minimum age of marriage for girls from 14 to 18, with the exception that underage girls may marry with the permission of the government recognized official/court and girl's guardian.[128][129] Over the 10 years preceding 2008, requests for child marriages have been predominantly approved by Morocco's Ministry for Social Development, and have increased (c. 29% of all marriages).[127][130] Some child marriages in Morocco are a result of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, a law that allows rapists to avoid punishment if they marry their underage victims.[131][132] Article 475 was amended in January 2014 after much campaigning, and rapists can legally no longer avoid sentencing by marrying their victim.[133]
In South Africa the law provides for respecting the marriage practices of traditional marriages, whereby a person might be married as young as 12 for females and 14 for males.[68] Early marriage is cited as "a barrier to continuing education for girls (and boys)". This includes absuma (arranged marriages set up between cousins at birth in local Islamic ethnic group), bride kidnapping and elopement decided on by the children.[134]
In 2016, the Tanzanian High Court – in a case filed by the Msichana Initiative, a lobbying group that advocates for girls' right to education – ruled in favor of protecting girls from the harms of early marriage.[124][135] It is now illegal for anyone younger than 18 to marry in Tanzania.[135]
In 2019, Mozambique's national assembly passed a law prohibiting child marriage. This law came after national movements condemning Mozambique's high rate of child marriage with 50% of girls marrying under the age of 18.[136]
A 2015 Human Rights Watch report stated that in Zimbabwe, one-third of women aged between 20 and 49 years old had married before reaching the age of 18.[137] In January 2016, two women who had been married as children brought a court case requesting a change in the legal age of marriage to the Constitutional Court,[138] with the result that the court declared that 18 is to be the minimum age for a legal marriage for both men and women (previously the legal age had been 16 for women and 18 for men). The law took effect immediately, and was hailed by a number of human rights, women's rights, medical and legal groups as a landmark ruling for the country.[139]
UNICEF stated in 2018 that although the number of child marriages has declined on a worldwide scale, the problem remains most severe in Africa, despite the fact that Ethiopia cut child marriage rates by a third.[140]
Americas
Child marriage is common in Latin America and the Caribbean island nations. About 29% of girls are married before age 18.[17] The child marriage incidence rates varies between the countries, with Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti and Ecuador reporting some of the highest rates in the Americas.[13] Bolivia and Guyana have shown the sharpest decline in child marriage rates as of 2012.[141] In Guatemala, early marriage is most common among indigenous Mayan communities. Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of absolute numbers of girls married or co-habitating by age fifteen.[142] Poverty and lack of laws mandating minimum age for marriage have been cited as reasons of child marriage in Latin America.[143][144] In an effort to combat the widespread belief among poor, rural, and indigenous communities that child marriage is a route out of poverty, some NGOs are working with communities in Latin America to shift norms and create safe spaces for adolescent girls.[142]
Canada
Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."[97] The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."[98]
United States
Child marriage, as defined by UNICEF, is observed in the United States. The UNICEF definition of child marriage includes couples who are formally married, or who live together as a sexually active couple in an informal union, with at least one member – usually the girl – being less than 18 years old.[4] The latter practice is more common in the United States, and it is officially called cohabitation. According to a 2010 report by National Center for Health Statistics, an agency of the government of United States, 2.1% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were in a child marriage. In the age group of 15–19, 7.6% of all girls in the United States were formally married or in an informal union. The child marriage rates were higher for certain ethnic groups and states. In Hispanic groups, for example, 6.6% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were formally married or in an informal union, and 13% of the 15–19 age group were.[7] Over 350,000 babies are born to teenage mothers every year in the United States, and over 50,000 of these are second babies to teen mothers.[145]
Laws regarding child marriage vary in the different states of the United States. Generally, children 16 and over may marry with parental consent, with the age of 18 being the minimum in all but two states to marry without parental consent. However all states but Delaware and New Jersey have exceptions for child marriage within their laws, and although those under 16 generally require a court order in addition to parental consent,[146] when those exceptions are taken into account, 17 states have no minimum age requirement.[20]
In 2018, Delaware became the first state to ban child marriage without exceptions,[147] followed by New Jersey the same year.[147] In 2020, Pennsylvania became the third state to ban it.[148]
Between 2000 and 2015 there were at least 207,468 child marriages in the United States of which over 1,000 marriage licences were for children under 15, some as young as ten years old.[149]
Until 2008 the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints practiced child marriage through the concept of "spiritual marriage" as soon as girls were ready to bear children, as part of its polygamy practice, but laws have raised the age of legal marriage in response to criticism of the practice.[150] In 2008 the Church changed its policy in the United States to no longer marry individuals younger than the local legal age.[151][152] In 2007 church leader Warren Jeffs was convicted of being an accomplice to statutory rape of a minor due to arranging a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man.[153] In March 2008 officials of the state of Texas believed that children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch were being married to adults and were being abused.[154] The state of Texas removed all 468 children from the ranch and placed them into temporary state custody.[154] After the Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that Texas acted improperly in removing them from the YFZ Ranch, the children were returned to their parents or relatives.[155]
Musician Jerry Lee Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown, was Lewis's first cousin once removed[156][157] and was only 13 years old when they married.
The vast majority of girls who are wed before the age of 18, face detrimental effects. Many are separated and removed from family and friends leading to why 50% drop out of school. The chances of living in poverty are doubled in early life marriages, and tripled for the likelihood of domestic abuse to occur than married adults.
Early age pregnancy is a common reason for child marriages. Abortion laws within the actual law as well as family values and religion play a large part in choosing to marry a child off rather than allow them to get in abortion. Yet, girls aged between 15-19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties, their children are much more likely to face fatal health problems as well as newborns.[158]
Asia
More than half of all child marriages occur in the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.[159] There was a decrease in the rates of child marriage across South Asia from 1991 to 2007, but the decrease was observed among young adolescent girls and not girls in their late teens. Some scholars[160] believe this age-specific reduction was linked to girls increasingly attending school until about age 15 and then marrying.
Western Asia
A 2013 report claims 53% of all married women in Afghanistan were married before age 18, and 21% of all were married before age 15. Afghanistan's official minimum age of marriage for girls is 15 with her father's permission.[161] In all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, the customary practice of ba'ad is another reason for child marriages; this custom involves village elders, jirga, settling disputes between families or unpaid debts or ruling punishment for a crime by forcing the guilty family to give their 5- to 12-year-old girls as a wife. Sometimes a girl is forced into child marriage for a crime her uncle or distant relative is alleged to have committed.[162][163] Andrew Bushell claims rate of marriage of 8- to 13-year-old girls exceeding 50% in Afghan refugee camps along the Pakistan border.[164]
Over half of Yemeni girls are married before 18, some by the age eight.[165][166] Yemen government's Sharia Legislative Committee has blocked attempts to raise marriage age to either 15 or 18, on grounds that any law setting minimum age for girls is un-Islamic. Yemeni Muslim activists argue that some girls are ready for marriage at age 9.[167][168] According to HRW, in 1999 the minimum marriage age 15 for women was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at age nine, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage.[169] In practice "Yemeni law allows girls of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they're 'suitable for sexual intercourse'."[165] As with Africa, the marriage incidence data for Yemen in HRW report is from surveys between 1990 and 2000. Current data is difficult to obtain because of regional violence.
In April 2008, Nujood Ali, a 10-year-old girl, successfully obtained a divorce after being raped under these conditions. Her case prompted calls to raise the legal age for marriage to 18.[170] Later in 2008, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood proposed to define the minimum age for marriage at 18 years. The law was passed in April 2009, with the age voted for as 17. But the law was dropped the next day following maneuvers by opposing parliamentarians. Negotiations to pass the legislation continue.[171] Meanwhile, Yemenis inspired by Nujood's efforts continue to push for change, with Nujood involved in at least one rally.[172] In September 2013, an 8-year-old girl died of internal bleeding and uterine rupture on her wedding night after marrying a 40-year-old man.[173]
The widespread prevalence of child marriage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been documented by human rights groups.[174] Saudi clerics have justified the marriage of girls as young as 9, with sanction from the judiciary.[175] No laws define a minimum age of consent in Saudi Arabia, though drafts for possible laws have been created since 2011.[176] Members of the Saudi Shoura Council in 2019 approved fresh regulations for minor marriages that will outlaw the marrying of 15-year-olds and force the need for court approval for those under 18. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Shoura Council, Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, said that introduced controls were based on in-depth studies presented to the body. He pointed out that the regulation, vetted by the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council, has raised the age of marriage to 18 and prohibited it for those under 15.[110] Saudi Arabia has officially updated the law banning all marriages under the age of 18.[108]
Research by the United Nations Population Fund indicates that 28.2% of marriages in Turkey – almost one in three – involve girls under 18.[177][178]
Child marriage was also found to be prevalent among Syrian and Palestinian Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in addition to other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Marriage was seen as a potential way to protect family honor and protect a girl from rape given how common rape was during the conflict.[179] Incidents of child marriages increased in Syria and among Syrian refugees over the course of the conflict. The proportion of Syrian refugee girls living in Jordan who were married increased from 13% in 2011 to 32% in 2014.[180] Journalists Magnus Wennman and Carina Bergfeldt documented the practice, and some of its results.[181]
Southeast Asia
Hill tribes girls are often married young. For the Karen people it is possible that two couples can arrange their children's marriage before the children are born.[182]
Indonesia
In a move to curb child marriage in Indonesia, the minimum marriage age for girls in Indonesia is to raise to 19 in 2022. Previously, under the 1974 marriage law, the marriage age for girls was 16, and there was no minimum with judicial consent.[183][184]
There has been an increase in underage marriage which has been attributed to a rise in social networking sites like Facebook. It has been reported that in areas like Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, couples become acquainted through Facebook and continuing their relationships until girls became pregnant.[185] Under Indonesian law underage marriage is prosecuted as pedophilia, though unregistered marriages between young girls and older men are common in rural areas.[186] In one case that caused a nation-wide outcry, a wealthy Muslim cleric married a 12-year-old girl. He was prosecuted for sexually abusing a minor and sentenced to 4 years in jail.[186][187]
Among the Atjeh of Sumatra girls formerly married before puberty. The husbands, though usually older, were still unfit for sexual union.[188]
Malaysia
In Malaysia, the public was shocked when they learned that a 41-year-old Malaysian wedded an 11-year-old girl in Golok, a border town in southern Thailand.[189] The man, who already has two wives and six children,[190] is said to be the imam of a surau at a village in Gua Musang, Kelantan. His second wife posted photographs online of the man and the young girl and their alleged solemnisation, causing public outrage. The parents of the 11-year-old girl defended their decision to allow their daughter's marriage to the 41-year-old man.[191]
In response to this incident, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the marriage between a 41-year-old man and his 11-year-old child bride remains valid under Islam.[192] She also said in a press statement that 'The Malaysian government "unequivocally" opposes child marriages and is already taking steps to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18'.[193] The child marriage in Gua Musang is still under active investigation by multiple agencies.[194]
Following this controversy, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa proposed a blanket ban on marriages involving under-aged children.[195][196][197][198] In response, PAS Vice President Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said that imposing a blanket ban on child marriage contravenes Islamic religious teachings, therefore, the blanket ban could not be accepted.[199] "It is not wrong to marry young, from the religious perspective," he said on the sidelines of the Kelantan legislative assembly sitting. He also claimed that it is better to enforce existing laws to protect young children from being forced into unwanted early marriages.[200]
PKR’s Latheefa Koya criticized the party's president and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail over the marriage of a 41-year-old man to an 11-year-old girl in Kelantan, saying all facts of the case were clear and established for the government to take action against child marriage.[201]
Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail continues to attract criticism from activists over her perceived reluctance to take action against the 41-year-old man who married an 11-year-old child, with a coalition of women's groups urging swift action to be taken to protect the girl, a Thai national who lives in Kelantan. The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) said it was time to act and urged the government to conclude its lengthy investigations.[202]
Selangor plans to amend the Islamic Family Law (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 on the minimum age for marriage for Muslim women in the state which will be increased from 16 to 18 years, after reports of rampant child marriages.[203]
As the controversy surrounding the 41-year-old man who married an 11-year-old girl continues, another case of a child bride has been reported in Malaysia.[204] The marriage involves a 19-year-old from Terengganu and a 13-year-old girl from Kelantan. They married at a mosque in Kampung Pulau Nibong on June 20. Ibrahim Husin, 67, the kadi who performed the akad nikah, said he was approached by the couple, who came with two witnesses, and a wali, who was the bride's uncle.
In September 2018, a 15-year-old girl in Tumpat, Kelantan reportedly married a 44-year-old man in the latest case of underage marriage to come under the spotlight.[205] The girl, the man's second wife, told the press that she was happy to be married. The girl's parents, aware that she is underage, permitted her to marry because they wanted her to have a better life, citing their hardship of raising 13 children of their own with a measly earning of RM200 - RM300 per month running a local sundry shop.[206]
Malaysia plans to tighten the requirements for child marriages in year 2019 to give legal protection to the minors.[207] Subsequently, any marriage with minors with have to go through a stringent approval process involving Shariah Court Department, the Home Ministry, State Religious Council and Customary Courts.
Bangladesh
Child marriage rates in Bangladesh are amongst the highest in the world.[22] Every 2 out of 3 marriages involve child marriages. According to statistics from 2005, 49% of women then between 25 and 29 were married by the age of 15 in Bangladesh.[114] According to a 2008 study, for each additional year a girl in rural Bangladesh is not married she will attend school an additional 0.22 years on average.[208] The later girls were married, the more likely they were to utilize preventive health care.[208] Married girls in the region were found to have less influence on family planning, higher rates of maternal mortality, and lower status in their husband's family than girls who married later.[208] Another study found that women who married at age 18 or older were less likely to experience IPV (intimate partner violence) than those married before age 18. It also found that girls married before age 15 were at an even higher risk for IPV.[209]
India
According to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children-2009" report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 married before the legal age of 18, with 56% marrying before age 18 in rural areas.[210] The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India.[211] As with Africa, this UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey in 1999.[212] The latest available UNICEF report for India uses 2004–2005 household survey data, on a small sample, and other scholars[159] report lower incidence rates for India. According to Raj et al., the 2005 small sample household survey data suggests 22% of girls ever married aged 16–18, 20% of girls in India married between 13–16, and 2.6% married before age 13. According to 2011 nationwide census of India, the average age of marriage for women in India is 21.[213] The child marriage rates in India, according to a 2009 representative survey, dropped to 7%.[214] In its 2001 demographic report, the Census of India stated zero married girls below age 10, 1.4 million married girls out of 59.2 million girls in the age 10–14, and 11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls in the age 15–19 (which includes 18–19 age group).[215] For 2011, the Census of India reports child marriage rates dropping further to 3.7% of females aged less than 18 being married.[216]
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was passed during the tenure of British rule on Colonial India. It forbade the marriage of a male younger than 21 or a female younger than 18 for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and most people of India. However, this law did not and currently does not apply to India's 165 million Muslim population, and only applies to India's Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh and other religious minorities. This link of law and religion was formalized by the British colonial rule with the Muslim personal laws codified in the Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. The age at which India's Muslim girls can legally marry, according to this Muslim Personal Law, is 9, and can be lower if her guardian (wali) decides she is sexually mature.[217][218] Over the last 25 years, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim civil organizations have actively opposed India-wide laws and enforcement action against child marriages; they have argued that Indian Muslim families have a religious right to marry a girl aged 15 or even 12.[219] Several states of India claim specially high child marriage rates in their Muslim and tribal communities.[220][221] India, with a population of over 1.2 billion, has the world's highest total number of child marriages. It is a significant social issue. As of 2016, the situation has been legally rectified by The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
According to "National Plan of Action for Children 2005", published by Indian government's Department of Women and Child Development, set a goal to eliminate child marriage completely by 2010. In 2006, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 was passed to prohibit solemnization of child marriages. This law states that men must be at least 21 years of age and women must but be at least 18 years of age to marry.
Some Muslim organizations planned to challenge the new law in the Supreme Court of India.[222] In latter years, various high courts in India – including the Gujarat High Court,[223] the Karnataka High Court[224] and the Madras High Court[225] – have ruled that the act prevails over any personal law (including Muslim personal law).
Nepal
UNICEF reported that 28.8% of marriages in Nepal were child marriages as of 2011.[226] A UNICEF discussion paper determined that 79.6 percent of Muslim girls in Nepal, 69.7 percent of girls living in hilly regions irrespective of religion, and 55.7 percent of girls living in other rural areas, are all married before the age of 15. Girls born into the highest wealth quintile marry about two years later than those from the other quintiles.[227]
Pakistan
According to two 2013 reports, over 50% of all marriages in Pakistan involve girls less than 18 years old.[228][229] Another UNICEF report claims 70 per cent of girls in Pakistan are married before the age of 16.[230] As with India and Africa, the UNICEF data for Pakistan is from a small sample survey in the 1990s.
The exact number of child marriages in Pakistan below the age of 13 is unknown, but rising according to the United Nations.[231]
Another custom in Pakistan, called swara or vani, involves village elders solving family disputes or settling unpaid debts by marrying off girls. The average marriage age of swara girls is between 5 and 9.[230][232] Similarly, the custom of watta satta has been cited[233] as a cause of child marriages in Pakistan.
According to Population Council, 35% of all females in Pakistan become mothers before they reach the age of 18, and 67% have experienced pregnancy – 69% of these have given birth – before they reach the age of 19.[234] Less than 4% of married girls below the age of 19 had some say in choosing her spouse; over 80% were married to a near or distant relative. Child marriage and early motherhood is common in Pakistan.[235]
Iran
Though the legal age of marriage in Iran is 13 years for girls and 15 for boys, there are cases of girls below the age of 10 being married.[236] The same source pointed out that "child marriages are more common in socially backward rural areas often afflicted with high levels of illiteracy and drug addiction". In October 2019, a prosecutor annulled the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to her adult cousin in rural Iran, and said he was indicting the mullah (officiant) and the girl's parents for an illegal underage marriage.[237] According to the Iranian Students News Agency, nearly 6,000 children are married each year in Iran.[237]
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) examining child marriage in Iran has warned of a rising number of young girls forced into marriage in Iran.[238] The Committee deplored the fact that the State party allows sexual intercourse involving girls as young as 9 lunar years and that other forms of sexual abuse of even younger children is not criminalized.[239] CRC said that Tehran must "repeal all provisions that authorize, condone or lead to child sexual abuse" and called for the age of sexual consent to be increased from nine years old to 16. The Society For Protecting The Rights of The Child said that 43,459 girls aged under 15 married in 2009. In 2010, 716 girls under the age of 10 married, up from 449 in the year prior.[238] On 8 March 2018 a member of the Tehran City Council, Shahrbanoo Amani said that there were 15,000 widows under the age of 15 in the country.[240]
Europe
General
Each European country has its own laws; in both the European Union and the Council of Europe the marriageable age falls within the jurisdiction of individual member states. The Istanbul convention, the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence,[241] only requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article 37) and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization (Article 32), but does not make any reference to a minimum age of marriage.
European Union
In the European Union, the general age of marriage as a right is 18 in all member states, except in Scotland where it is 16. When all exceptions are taken into account (such as judicial or parental consent), the minimum age is 16 in most countries, and in Estonia it is 15. In 6 countries marriage under 18 is completely prohibited. By contrast, in 6 countries there is no set minimum age, although all these countries require the authorization of a public authority (such as judge or social worker) for the marriage to take place.
| State | Minimum age | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum age when all exceptions are taken into account | General age | ||
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with parental consent.[242] |
.svg.png){kind=small} |
none | 18 | Younger than 18 with judicial consent (with no strict minimum age). With parental consent, serious reasons are required for a minor to marry; without parental consent, the unwillingness of the parents has to constitute an abuse.[243] |
 |
16 | 18 | The new 2009 Family Code fixes the age at 18, but allows for an exception for 16 years olds, stating that "Upon exception, in case that important reasons impose this, matrimony may be concluded by a person at the age of 16 with permission by the regional judge". It further states that both persons wanting to marry, as well as the parents/guardians of the minor, must be consulted by the judge. (Chapter 2, Article 6)[244] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with judicial consent. |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with parental consent, if there are serious reasons for the marriage.[245][246] |
 |
16 | 18 | Article 672 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll. the Civil Code (which came into force in 2014) states that the court may, in exceptional cases, allow a marriage of a 16 year old, if there are serious reasons for it.[247] |
 |
18 | 18 | Since 2017, marriage is no longer allowed under 18.[248] |
 |
15 | 18 | 15 with court permission.[249][250] |
 |
18 | 18 | Under 18 marriages with judicial authorization were banned in 2019.[251] |
 |
none | 18 | Under 18 needs judicial authorization.[252] |
 |
18 | 18 | The minimum age was set at 18 in 2017.[253] |
 |
none | 18 | Under 18 requires court permission, which may be given if there are serious reasons for such a marriage[245][254] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with authorization from the guardianship authority[255] |
 |
18 | 18 | Since 2019, marriage under 18 is banned.[256] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with court consent.[257] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with court consent.[258] |
 |
none girls/15 boys | 18 | 15 with court permission. Girls can marry below 15 with court permission if they are pregnant.[259] |
 |
none | 18 | Under 18 need judicial permission. New laws of 2014 fixed the marriageable at 18 for both sexes; prior to these regulations the age was 16 for females and 18 for males. The new laws still allow both sexes to obtain judicial consent to get married under 18.[260] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with parental consent.[261] |
 |
18 | 18 | Exceptions were removed by a change in the law in 2015.[262] |
 |
16 girls/18 boys | 18 | 16 for girls with court consent.[263] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with parental consent.[264] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16, if there are valid reasons, with both judicial and parental permission, as well as medical approval.[265] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with court consent, with a serious reason such as pregnancy.[266] |
 |
none | 18 | Under 18 may be approved by the Social Work Centre if there are "well founded reasons" arising upon the investigation of the situation of the minor. (Art 23, 24 of the Law on Marriage and Family Relations).[267] |
 |
16 | 18 | 16 with court consent. |
 |
18 | 18 | Not possible to marry under the age of 18 for Swedish citizens since July 1, 2014.[268] Authorities take a different approach to individuals who were already married when the arrive in Sweden, as during the European migrant crisis, the Swedish Migration Agency identified 132 married children, of which 65 were in Malmö.[269] |
 |
16 | 18 (16 Scotland) | England and Wales: 16 with the consent of parents/guardians (and others in some cases) if under 18.[270]
Northern Ireland: 16 with parental consent (with the court able to give consent in some cases).[272] |
Scandinavia
In April 2016, Reuters reported "Child brides sometimes tolerated in Nordic asylum centers despite bans". For example, at least 70 girls under 18 were living as married couples in Sweden; in Norway, "some" under 16 lived "with their partners". In Denmark, it was determined there were "dozens of cases of girls living with older men", prompting Minister Inger Stojberg to state she would "stop housing child brides in asylum centres".[273]
Marriage under 18 was completely banned in Sweden in 2014, in Denmark in 2017,[274] and in Finland in 2019.[275]
Balkans/Eastern Europe
In these areas, child and forced marriages are associated with the Roma community and with some rural populations. However, such marriages are illegal in most of the countries from that area. In recent years, many of those countries have taken steps in order to curb these practices, including equalizing the marriageable age of both sexes (e.g. Romania in 2007, Ukraine in 2012). Therefore, most of those 'marriages' are informal unions (without legal recognition) and often arranged from very young ages. Such practices are common in Bulgaria and Romania[276][277] (in both countries the marriageable age is 18, and can only be lowered to 16 in special circumstances with judicial approval[278][279]). A 2003 case involving the daughter of an informal 'gypsy king' of the area has made international news.[280]
Belgium
The Washington Post reported in April 2016 that "17 child brides" arrived in Belgium in 2015 and a further 7 so far in 2016. The same report added that "Between 2010 and 2013, the police registered at least 56 complaints about a forced marriage."[281]
Germany
In 2016 there were 1475 underage foreigners were registered in Germany, of which 1100 were girls. Syrians represented 664, Afghans 157 and Iraqis 100. In July 2016, 361 foreign children under 14 were registered as married.[282]
Netherlands
The Dutch government's National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children wrote that "between September 2015 and January 2016 around 60 child brides entered the Netherlands".[283] At least one was 14 years old.[284][285] The Washington Post reported that asylum centres in the Netherlands were "housing 20 child brides between ages 13 and 15" in 2015.[286]
Russia
The common marriageable age established by the Family Code of Russia is 18 years old. Marriages of persons at age from 16 to 18 years allowed only with good reasons and by local municipal authority permission. Marriage before 16 years old may be allowed by federal subject of Russia law as an exception just in special circumstances.[287]
By 2016, a minimal age for marriage in special circumstances had been established at 14 years (in Adygea,[288] Kaluga Oblast,[289] Magadan Oblast,[290] Moscow Oblast,[291] Nizhny Novgorod Oblast,[292] Novgorod Oblast,[293] Oryol Oblast,[294] Sakhalin Oblast,[295] Tambov Oblast,[296] Tatarstan,[297] Vologda Oblast[298]) or to 15 years (in Murmansk Oblast[299] and Ryazan Oblast[300]). Others subjects of Russia also can have marriageable age laws.
Abatement of marriageable age is an ultimate measure acceptable in cases of life threat, pregnancy and childbirth.[288][299]
United Kingdom
The marriageable age in the United Kingdom is 18, or 16 with consent of parents and guardians (and others in some cases),[270] although in Scotland[301] no parental consent is required over 16.[302] Scotland and Andorra are the only European jurisdictions where 16 year-olds can marry as a right (i.e. without parental or court approval); see Marriageable age § Europe.
In the UK girls as young as 12 have been smuggled in to be brides of men in the Muslim community, according to a 2004 report in The Guardian. Girls trying to escape this child marriage can face death because this breaks the honor code of her husband and both families.[303]
As with the United States, underage cohabitation is observed in the United Kingdom. According to a 2005 study, 4.1% of all girls in the 15–19 age group in the UK were cohabiting (living in an informal union), while 8.9% of all girls in that age group admitted to having been in a cohabitation relation (child marriage per UNICEF definition[4]), before the age of 18. Over 4% of all underage girls in the UK were teenage mothers.[8]
In July 2014, the United Kingdom hosted its first global Girl Summit; the goal of the Summit was to increase efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage and female genital mutilation within a generation.[304]
Oceania
The Marquesas Islands have been noted for their sexual culture. Many sexual activities seen as taboo in Western cultures are viewed appropriate by the native culture. One of these differences is that children are introduced and educated to sex at a very young age. Contact with Western societies has changed many of these customs, so research into their pre-Western social history has to be done by reading antique writings. Children slept in the same room as their parents and were able to witness their parents while they had sex. Intercourse simulation became real penetration as soon as boys were physically able. Adults found simulation of sex by children to be funny. As children approached 11 attitudes shifted toward girls. When a child reaches adulthood, they are educated on sexual techniques by a much older adult.
Yuri Lisyansky in his memoirs[305] reports that:
The next day, as soon as it was light, we were surrounded by a still greater multitude of these people. There were now a hundred females at least; and they practised all the arts of lewd expression and gesture, to gain admission on board. It was with difficulty I could get my crew to obey the orders I had given on this subject. Amongst these females were some not more than ten years of age. But youth, it seems, is here no test of innocence; these infants, as I may call them, rivalled their mothers in the wantonness of their motions and the arts of allurement.
Adam Johann von Krusenstern in his book[306] about the same expedition as Yuri's, reports that a father brought a 10- to 12-year-old girl on his ship, and she had sex with the crew. According to the book[307] of Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu and Étienne Marchand, eight-year-old girls had sex and other unnatural acts in public.[308][309][310][311][312]
Consequences of child marriage
Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls that last well beyond adolescence.[60][313] Women married in their teens or earlier struggle with the health effects of pregnancy at a young age and often with little spacing between children.[85] Early marriages followed by teen pregnancy also significantly increase birth complications and social isolation. In poor countries, early pregnancy limits or can even eliminate a woman's education options, affecting her economic independence. Girls in child marriages are more likely to suffer from domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and marital rape.[60][314]
Health
Child marriage threatens the health and life of girls.[315] Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the main cause of death among adolescent girls below age 19 in developing countries. Girls aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as women in their 20s, and girls under the age of 15 are five to seven times more likely to die during childbirth.[68] These consequences are due largely to girls' physical immaturity wherefore the pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed. Teen pregnancy, particularly below age 15, increases risk of developing obstetric fistula, since their smaller pelvises make them prone to obstructed labor.[68] Girls who give birth before the age of 15 have an 88% risk of developing fistula.[68] Fistula leaves its victims with urine or fecal incontinence that causes lifelong complications with infection and pain.[316] Unless surgically repaired, obstetric fistulas can cause years of permanent disability, shame to mothers, and can result in being shunned by the community.[104][317] Married girls also have a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, and malaria than non-married peers or girls who marry in their 20s.[68]
Child marriage also threatens the lives of offspring. Mothers under the age of 18 years have 35 to 55% increased risk of delivering pre-term or having a low birth weight baby than a mother who is 19 years old. In addition, infant mortality rates are 60% higher when the mother is under 18 years old. Infants born to child mothers tend to have weaker immune systems and face a heightened risk of malnutrition.[104]
Prevalence of child marriage may also be associated with higher rates of population growth, more cases of children left orphaned, and the accelerated spread of disease.[208]
Illiteracy and poverty
Child marriage often ends a girl's education, particularly in impoverished countries where child marriages are common.[318] In addition, uneducated girls are more at risk for child marriage. Girls who have only a primary education are twice as likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary or higher education, and girls with no education are three times more likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary education.[65] Early marriage impedes a young girl's ability to continue with her education as most drop out of school following marriage[319] to focus their attention on domestic duties and having or raising children.[320] Girls may be taken out of school years before they are married due to family or community beliefs that allocating resources for girls' education is unnecessary given that her primary roles will be that of wife and mother.[90] Without education, girls and adult women have fewer opportunities to earn an income and financially provide for themselves and their children. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon them, or divorce them.[60] Given that girls in child marriages are often significantly younger than their husbands, they become widowed earlier in life and may face associated economic and social challenges for a greater portion of their life than women who marry later.[90]
Domestic violence
Married teenage girls with low levels of education suffer greater risk of social isolation and domestic violence than more educated women who marry as adults.[68][321] Following marriage, girls frequently relocate to their husband's home and take on the domestic role of being a wife, which often involves relocating to another village or area. This transition may result in a young girl dropping out of school, moving away from her family and friends, and a loss of the social support that she once had.[6] A husband's family may also have higher expectations for the girl's submissiveness to her husband and his family because of her youth.[85] This sense of isolation from a support system can have severe mental health implications including depression.
Large age gaps between the child and her spouse makes her more vulnerable to domestic violence and marital rape.[322] Girls who marry as children face severe and life-threatening marital violence at higher rates.[323] Husbands in child marriages are often more than ten years older than their wives. This can increase the power and control a husband has over his wife and contribute to prevalence of spousal violence.[90] Early marriage places young girls in a vulnerable situation of being completely dependent on her husband. Domestic and sexual violence from their husbands has lifelong, devastating mental health consequences for young girls because they are at a formative stage of psychological development.[60] These mental health consequences of spousal violence can include depression and suicidal thoughts.[85] Child brides, particularly in situations such as vani, also face social isolation, emotional abuse and discrimination in the homes of their husbands and in-laws.
Women's rights
The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination of Women (‘CEDAW’), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights form the international standard against child marriage.[65] Child marriages impact violates a range of women's interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, to be free from slavery, access to education, freedom of movement, freedom from violence, reproductive rights, and the right to consensual marriage.[60][324][325] The consequence of these violations impact woman, her children and the broader society.
Development
High rates of child marriage negatively impact countries' economic development because of early marriages' impact on girls' education and labor market participation.[319] Some researchers and activists note that high rates of child marriage prevent significant progress toward each of the eight Millennium Development Goals and global efforts to reduce poverty due to its effects on educational attainment, economic and political participation, and health.[319]
A UNICEF Nepal issued report noted that child marriage impacts Nepal's development due to loss of productivity, poverty, and health effects. Using Nepal Multi-Indicator Survey data, its researchers estimate that all girls delaying marriage until age 20 and after would increase cash flow among Nepali women in an amount equal to 3.87% of the country's GDP.[226] Their estimates considered decreased education and employment among girls in child marriages in addition to low rates of education and high rates of poverty among children from child marriages.
International initiatives to prevent child marriage
In December 2011 a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/66/170) designated October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.[326] On October 11, 2012 the first International Day of the Girl Child was held, the theme of which was ending child marriage.[326]
In 2013 the first United Nations Human Rights Council resolution against child, early, and forced marriages was adopted; it recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and pledges to eliminate the practice as part of the U.N.'s post-2015 global development agenda.[327][328][329]
In 2014 the UN's Commission on the Status of Women issued a document in which they agreed, among other things, to eliminate child marriage.[330]
The World Health Organization recommends increased educational attainment among girls, increased enforcement structures for existing minimum marriage age laws, and informing parents in practicing communities of the risks associated as primary methods to prevent child marriages.[331]
Programs to prevent child marriage have taken several different approaches. Various initiatives have aimed to empower young girls, educate parents on the associated risks, change community perceptions, support girls' education, and provide economic opportunities for girls and their families through means other than marriage. A survey of a variety of prevention programs found that initiatives were most effect when they combined efforts to address financial constraints, education, and limited employment of women.[332]
Girls in families participating in an unconditional cash transfer program in Malawi aimed at incentivizing girls' education married and had children later than their peers who had not participated in the program. The program's effects on rates of child marriage were greater for unconditional cast transfer programs than those with conditions. Evaluators believe this demonstrated that the economic needs of the family heavily influenced the appeal of child marriage in this community. Therefore, reducing financial pressures on the family decreased the economic motivations to marry daughters off at a young age.[332]
The Haryana state government in India operated a program in which poor families were given a financial incentive if they kept their daughters in school and unmarried until age 18. Girls in families who were eligible for the program were less likely to be married before age 18 than their peers.[332]
A similar program was operated in 2004 by the Population Council and the regional government in Ethiopia's rural Amhara region. Families received cash if their daughters remained in school and unmarried during the two years of the program. They also instituted mentorship programs, livelihood training, community conversations about girls' education and child marriage, and gave school supplies for girls. After the two-year program, girls in families eligible for the program were three times more likely to be in school and one tenth as likely to be married compared to their peers.[332]
In the other free program the Global Campaign for the Prevention of Child Marriage (GCPCM) has been launched in March 2019, and the primary goal of this Campaign is raising awareness and illuminating people's minds to address child marriage in the world.[333][334]
Other programs have addressed child marriage less directly through a variety of programming related to girls' empowerment, education, sexual and reproductive health, financial literacy, life skills, communication skills, and community mobilization.[335]
In 2018, UN Women announced that Jaha Dukureh would serve as Goodwill Ambassador in Africa to help organize to prevent child marriage.[336]
Tipping point analysis
Researchers at the International Center for Research on Women found that in some communities rates of child marriage increase significantly when girls are a particular age. This "tipping point", or age at which rates of marriage increase dramatically, may occur years before the median age of marriage. Therefore, the researchers argue prevention programs should focus their programming on girls who are pre-tipping point age rather than only girls who are married before they reach the median age for marriage.[337]
Prevalence data
Sets of prevalence data based on surveys for selected countries as per UNICEF are provided in the table below.[356]
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
 |
6 |
 |
0.4 |
 |
22.2 |
 |
5.2 |
 |
3.5 |
 |
5 |
 |
4.2 |
 |
10.3 |
 |
1.2 |
 |
3.9 |
 |
5.5 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
 |
1.4 |
 |
1.6 |
 |
10.8 |
 |
3 |
 |
0.6 |
 |
6.5 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
 |
1.2 |
 |
4.8 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
7.9 |
|
0 |
|
2.8 |
|
3.4 |
|
7 |
|
14.1 |
 |
19.2 |
|
6.8 |
 |
1.9 |
|
7 |
 |
3.6 |
 |
0.9 |
|
5.2 |
|
2.6 |
 |
0 |
|
7.3 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
2.1 |
|
7.1 |
|
18.2 |
|
8.4 |
|
12.9 |
 |
2.6 |
 |
2.2 |
 |
0.1 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
1.4 |
 |
0.6 |
 |
7.2 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
30.3 |
|
5.3 |
|
19 |
|
19.7 |
|
27 |
|
40.3 |
|
51.2 |
|
27.3 |
|
16 |
|
39.5 |
|
21.6 |
|
9.8 |
|
30.5 |
|
14.9 |
|
5.7 |
|
34 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
14.9 |
|
32.7 |
|
43.5 |
|
28.8 |
|
29.9 |
|
19 |
|
16.5 |
|
8.7 |
| Country | %age |
|---|---|
|
11.8 |
|
11.2 |
|
27.9 |
See also
- Because I Am a Girl (campaign)
- Child Marriage
- Child sexuality
- Forced marriage
- Jewish views on marriage
- List of child brides
- List of child bridegrooms
- Marriageable age
- Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery
- Teen marriage
- Teenage pregnancy
- Westermarck effect
Notes
- While canon 1083 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females,[54](c. 1083 §1) canon 97 defines a person younger than 18 year of age as a minor and subject to parental authority.[54](cc. 97 §1, 98 §2) The authorization of the local ordinary must precede the celebration of the marriage of a minor if the marriage "cannot be recognized or celebrated according to the norm of civil law" or if the parents of a minor are "unaware or reasonably opposed".[54](c. 1071 §1,2° and 6°) Each conference of bishops can "establish a higher age for the licit celebration of marriage".[54](c. 1083 §§1–2) Canon 1072 requires that pastors discourage "marriage before the age at which a person usually enters marriage according to the accepted practices of the region."[54](c. 1072) Edward N. Peters explains that canon 1083 "authorized episcopal conferences to recognize the concrete circumstances of marriage in their own territories and to raise the ages for licit marriages within a given nation" to more than the minimum age for a valid marriage.[55] Other canons that regulate marriage in general also apply, for example persons "who lack the sufficient use of reason" or "who suffer from a grave defect of discretion of judgment concerning the essential matrimonial rights and duties mutually to be handed over and accepted" "are incapable of contracting marriage."[54](c. 1095)
- some sources suggest age at marriage as six and some as seven, see Denise Spellberg (1996), Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231079990, pp 39–40
- Most sources suggest age at consummation as nine, and one that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr,
Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231079990, pp. 39–40;
The Ahmadiyya minority sect has published Pakistan's Muhammad Ali view that Sahih al-Bukhari is unauthentic, and argued that Aisha may have been a teenager; See: Ali, Muhammad (1997). Muhammad the Prophet. Ahamadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam. ISBN 978-0913321072.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
However, Ahmadiyya sect views about Islam and its history are widely disputed by mainstream Islam. See: Siddiq & Ahmad (1995), Enforced Apostasy: Zaheeruddin v. State and the Official Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Law & Inequality'-, 14: pp. 275–284. - See:
- L. Ahmed, Women and the Advent of Islam, Signs, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Summer, 1986), pp. 677–678;
- Cynthia Gorney, "Too Young to Wed – The secret world of child brides", National Geographic, June 2011, quote: "'If there were any danger in early marriage, Allah would have forbidden it,' a Yemeni member of parliament named Mohammed Al-Hamzi told me in the capital city of Sanaa one day. 'Something that Allah himself did not forbid, we cannot forbid.' Al-Hamzi, a religious conservative, is vigorously opposed to the legislative efforts in Yemen to prohibit marriage for girls below a certain age (17, in a recent version), and so far those efforts have met with failure. Islam does not permit marital relations before a girl is physically ready, he said, but the Holy Koran contains no specific age restrictions and so these matters are properly the province of family and religious guidance, not national law. Besides, there is the matter of the Prophet Muhammad's beloved Ayesha—nine years old, according to the conventional account, when the marriage was consummated."
- While a diriment impediment invalidates a marriage, here the marriage if contracted nevertheless will be valid but illicit.
References
-
- Gastón, Colleen Murray; Misunas, Christina; Cappa (2019). "Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data". Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 14 (3): 219–228. doi:10.1080/17450128.2019.1566584.
- "Child marriage". UNICEF. March 2020.
- "Child Marriage". icrw.org.
- "Child Marriage – Rationale, Historical Views, And Consequences". WorldAtlas. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- Parsons, Jennifer; Edmeades, Jeffrey; Aslihan, Kes; Petroni, Suzanne; Sexton, Maggie; Wodon, Quentin (2015). "Economic Impacts of Child Marriage: A Review of the Literature". The Review of Faith & International Affairs. 13 (3): 12–22. doi:10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757. hdl:10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757.
- Atkinson MP, Korgen KO, Trautner MN (2019). Social Problems: Sociology in Action. Sage Publications. p. 238. ISBN 1544358644.
- "Child marriage". UNICEF. March 2020.
- Gastón, Colleen Murray; Misunas, Christina; Cappa (2019). "Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data". Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 14 (3): 219–228. doi:10.1080/17450128.2019.1566584.
- Nour, NM (2009). "Child Marriage: a silent health and human rights issue". Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2 (1): 51–56. PMID 19399295.
- "Marriage and Cohabitation in the United States: A Statistical Portrait Based on Cycle 6 (2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth" (PDF). US Department of Health and Human Services.
- Sharon K. Houseknecht and Susan K. Lewis, "Explaining Teen Childbearing and Cohabitation: Community Embeddedness and Primary Ties", Family Relations, Vol. 54, No. 5, Families and Communities (Dec., 2005), pp. 607–620
- "Child Marriage". icrw.org.
- "Eradicating child marriage in Africa – FORWARD UK – FORWARD". Forward Uk. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- International technical guidance on sexuality education: an evidence-informed approach (PDF). Paris: UNESCO. 2018. p. 13. ISBN 978-92-3-100259-5.
- "allAfrica.com: Africa: Child Brides Die Young". allAfrica.com.
- "Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage" (PDF). UNFPA. p. 23.
- Early Marriage, Child Spouses UNICEF, See section on Asia, page 4 (2001)
- "Southeast Asia's big dilemma: what to do about child marriage?". Plan International Australia. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
- "IRIN Asia – PHILIPPINES: Early marriage puts girls at risk – Philippines – Gender Issues – Health & Nutrition – Human Rights". IRINnews. 2010-01-26.
- "Child Brides – Child Marriage: What We Know . NOW – PBS". pbs.org.
- "Child marriage still an issue in Saudi Arabia". SFGate. 2010-03-14.
- "Early Marriage, Child Spouses" (PDF). UNICEF (see section on Oceania. p. 5.
- "Ohio raises minimum age to marry to 17, banning child marriages".
- "Child Marriage: Latest trends and future prospects". UNICEF DATA. 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
- "Child Marriage is a Death Sentence for Many Young Girls" (PDF). UNICEF. 2012.
- Child brides – For poorer, most of the time The Economist (February 28, 2011)
- Child Marriage Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Ford Foundation (2011)
- "Child brides call on U.S. states to end 'legal rape'". Reuters. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
- Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2015). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition). pp. 3140–3150 (Kindle locations).
- Patricia Crone (2015). Pre-Industrial Societies: Anatomy of the Pre-Modern World. Oneworld (Kindle Edition). p. 2747 (Kindle loc.).
- Angeliki Laiou (1993), Coercion to sex and marriage in ancient and medieval societies, Washington, DC, pages 85–190
- Ross Kraemer (1993), The Jewish Family in Antiquity, Scholars Press (Atlanta), pages 82–110
- M. A. Friedman (1980), Jewish Marriage in Palestine, Vol. 1, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Steven M. Lowenstein: The Jewish Cultural Tapestry: International Jewish Folk Traditions, p. 108. Oxford, 2002.
- Ruth Lamdan: A Separate People: Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt in the sixteenth Century, p. 47. Leiden, 2000.
- Nancy Demand (1994), Birth, Death, and Motherhood in Classical Greece, Johns Hopkins University Press, pages 101–104
- Dahl, GB (2010). "Early Teen Marriage and Future Poverty". Demography. 47 (3): 689–718. doi:10.1353/dem.0.0120. PMC 3000061. PMID 20879684.
- Saito, O. (1996). "Historical demography: achievements and prospects". Population Studies. 50 (3): 537–553. doi:10.1080/0032472031000149606. PMID 11618380.
- Zhao, Z. (1997). "Demographic systems in historic China: some new findings from recent research". Journal of the Australian Population Association. 14 (2): 201–232. doi:10.1007/BF03029340. PMID 12322104.
- Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2015). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition). pp. 3120–3160(Kindle location).
- Vedic index of names and subjects. London: Murray. 1912. p. 474.
- Nagi, B. S. (1993-01-01). Child Marriage in India: A Study of Its Differential Patterns in Rajasthan. Mittal Publications. p. 6. ISBN 978-81-7099-460-2.
- Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 420.
- Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 420. ISBN 9788131716779.
- Donald Davis (2010), The Spirit of Hindu Law, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521877046, page 14
- Allan Dahlaquist (1996-12-31). Megasthenes and Indian Religion: A Study in Motives and Types. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9788120813236.
- "MAJORITY - JewishEncyclopedia.com". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- Lőw, Leopold Lőw (1969). Beiträge zur jüdischen Altherthumskunde, Band 2. Gregg. pp. 170, 175, 176.
- "Mishnah, Book Nashim, Kiddushin, chapter 41a".
- "Mishneh Torah, Book Nashim, Ishut, Chapter 2".
- "Mishneh Torah, Book Nashim, Ishut, Chapter 3:11,14".
- Lőw, Leopold Lőw (1969). Beiträge zur jüdischen Altherthumskunde, Band 2. Gregg. pp. 170, 175, 176.
- "Mishneh Torah, Book Nashim, Ishut, Chapter 3:19".
- "St. Joseph". Catholic Encyclopedia. Newadvent.org. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
-
- Bachofen, Charles A. (1920). A commentary on the new code of the canon law. 5 (2nd rev. ed.). St. Louis, MO; London: B. Herder book. c. 1067. hdl:2027/wu.89088314570. LCCN 19004568. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - Catholic Church (1999) [©1998]. "Codex Iuris Canonici". Code of canon law: new English translation. IntraText. Washington, D.C.: Canon Law Society of America. ISBN 978-0-943616-79-7. Archived from the original on 2008-02-20 – via Vatican.va.
- Peters, Edward N. (1996-06-22). "Too young to marry". America. 174 (20): 14–16. ISSN 0002-7049. Reprinted in Peters, Edward. "Too young to marry". canonlaw.info. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
- Richard Burn, Robert Tyrwhitt and Robert Phillimore, The Ecclesiastical Law, Volume 4, Sweet Stevens & Norton (London), page 54.
- Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2015). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition). pp. 3090–3110 (Kindle locations.
- Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2015). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition). pp. 3200 (Kindle location).
- Schacht, J.; Layish, A.; Shaham, R.; Ansari, Ghaus; Otto, J.M.; Pompe, S.; Knappert, J.; Boyd, Jean (1995). "Nikāḥ". In P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. 8 (2nd ed.). Brill. p. 29.
- "Q & A: Child Marriage and Violations of Girls' Rights – Human Rights Watch". hrw.org.
- 5 Things you may not know about Child Marriage NPR, Washington DC
- "Niger – Child Marriage Around The World". Girls Not Brides. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Child Marriage Facts and Figures - ICRW - PASSION. PROOF. POWER". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- Strochlic, Nina (18 September 2014). "The Sad Hidden Plight of Child Grooms". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage" (PDF). UNFPA.
- S.D. Goitein (1978), A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World, Vol. 3, University of California Press
- Bearak, Barry (July 9, 2006). "The bride price". The New York Times.
- Nour, Nawal M. (2006), "Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa", Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12 (11): 1644–1649, doi:10.3201/eid1211.060510, ISSN 1080-6059, PMC 3372345, PMID 17283612
- Tremayne, Soraya (Winter 2006). "Modernity and early marriage in Iran: a view from within". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 2 (1): 65–94. doi:10.1215/15525864-2006-1003. JSTOR 40326888.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Pdf.
- Boyden, Jo; Pankhurst, Alula; Tafere, Yisak (June 2012). "Child protection and harmful traditional practices: female early marriage and genital modification in Ethiopia". Development in Practice. 22 (4): 510–522. doi:10.1080/09614524.2012.672957.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Chowdhury, F.D. (July 2004). "The socio‐cultural context of child marriage in a Bangladeshi village". International Journal of Social Welfare. 13 (3): 244–253. doi:10.1111/j.1369-6866.2004.00318.x.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Warner, Elizabeth (2004). "Behind the wedding veil: Child marriage as a form of trafficking in girls". Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law. 12 (2): 233–247.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- "The trafficking of children in the Asia–Pacific". Aic.gov.au. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- "'Bridenapping': a growing hidden crime". The Independent. 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- "Captured Hearts". www.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- "Police swoop on fake 'bride kidnapping'". 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- "One in five girls and women kidnapped for marriage in Kyrgyzstan:..." Reuters. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- Smith, Craig S. (2005-04-30). "Abduction, Often Violent, a Kyrgyz Wedding Rite". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- Andre Wink (1997), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, vol. 2, The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th–13th Centuries (Leiden)
- Assaf Likhovski (2006), Law and Identity in Mandate Palestine, ISBN 978-0-8078-3017-8; University of North Carolina Press, pages 93–103
- Julia Rebollo Lieberman (2011), Sephardi Family Life in the Early Modern Diaspora, pages 8–10; Brandeis University Press; ISBN 978-1-58465-957-0
- Ruth Lamdan, Child Marriages in Jewish Society in Eastern Mediterranean during the 16th Century, Mediterranean Historical Review, 2 (June 1996); Vol 11, pages 37–59
- Joseph Hacker, in Moreshet Sheparad: The Sephardi Legacy, Vol 2, (Editor: Haim Beinart), Magnes Press, 1992; pages 109–133
- Thapa, S. (1996). ITS PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES. Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 23(2), pages 361–375
- Raj, Anita (2010). "When the Mother Is a Child: The Impact of Child Marriage on the Health and Human Rights of Girls". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 95 (11): 931–935. doi:10.1136/adc.2009.178707. PMID 20930011.
- "8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband - USATODAY.com". usatoday.com.
- Bicchieri C, Lindemans, Jiang. A social norms perspective on child marriage: The general framework. UNICEF, 2014
- "Targeting Girls in the Name of Tradition: Child Marriage". U.S. Department of State.
- Asad Zia, 42% of underage married girls from Pakistan, Express Tribune / International Herald Tribune (New York Times), January 2, 2013
- Gaffney-Rhys, Ruth (2011). "International Law as an Instrument to Combat Child Marriage". The International Journal of Human Rights. 15 (3): 359–373. doi:10.1080/13642980903315398.
- Lamdān, R. (2000). A Separate People: Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century (Vol. 26). Brill; see pages 28–31
- A. Grossman, 'Child marriage in Jewish society in the Middle Ages until the thirteenth century' (in Hebrew), Peamim 45 (1990), 108–126
- Abrahams, Israel (2005). Jewish life in the Middle Ages. Routledge; see pages 183–189
- "Spain marriage age of consent Europe". time-com. 24 July 2015.
- "Marriage requirements in Mexico". Embamex.sre.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- http://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/unfpa%20ukraine%20summary.pdf
- "Consolidated federal laws of canada, Criminal Code". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Legislative Services Branch. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Consolidated federal laws of canada, Civil Marriage Act". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Legislative Services Branch. 2015-06-18. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Marriages and civil partnerships in the UK". GOV.UK. 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- "Matrimonial Causes Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- "Code of Canon Law - IntraText". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- Watt 1960
- Spellberg 1996, p. 40
- "Child marriage: a silent health and human rights issue". Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - Barlas 2002, pp. 125–126
- Büchler, Andrea; Schlatter, Christina (2013). "Marriage Age in Islamic and Contemporary Muslim Family Laws: A Comparative Survey" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. 1. ISSN 1664-5707.
- Büchler, Andrea; Schlatter, Christina (2013). "Marriage Age in Islamic and Contemporary Muslim Family Laws: A Comparative Survey" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. 1. ISSN 1664-5707.
Marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation. In the absence of such signs, the Hanafi school assumes that puberty will occur no later than at eighteen years for males and seventeen years for females
- "Saudi Arabia moves to ban child marriage with a new ruling". The National. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
- Wael Mahdi (July 1, 2009). "Saudi push to end child marriages". The National.
- Al Khataf, Iman. "Saudi Arabia Introduces New Regulations for Early Marriage". Asharq Al-aswat.
- "Laws of Manu Chapter IX No. 94".
- Shulamith Shaha (1983), The Fourth Estate: A History of Women in the Middle Ages, ISBN 0-415-30851-8, Routledge, pages 131–149
- UNICEF (2015) A Profile of Child Marriage in Africa.
- "Child marriage – UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund". unfpa.org.
- "Child Marriage" (PDF). UNICEF. 2005.
- "IRIN Africa – NIGER: Early marriage – from rural custom to urban business – Niger – Children – Economy – Education – Gender Issues – Human Rights". IRINnews. 2009-01-16.
- Lbarnes. "Africa – Child marriage". unfpa.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- "Ending Forced Child Marriage". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- "Nguyen, Minh Cong and Quentin Wodon. 2012. "Child Marriage and Education: A Major Challenge"" (PDF).
- "allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Senate Denies Child Marriage Wrongdoing, Says Law May Be Revisited". allAfrica.com.
- "More on child brides: After a political fight, Nigeria will continue allowing them". Washington Post.
- "allAfrica.com: Nigeria – Child Not Bride". allAfrica.com. 2013-09-04.
- "Gambia's leader says ban on child marriage 'as from today'". Bigstory.ap.org. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- "Gambia and Tanzania outlaw child marriage – BBC News". Bbc.com. 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- Batha, Emma (2009-02-09). "Malawi bans child marriage, lifts minimum age to 18". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- "United Nations General Assembly. Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Preventing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage". Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - "Outlawing Child Marriage In Morocco – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. 2012-12-27.
- "Les marocains évaluent les progrès de la Moudawana Siham Ali, Magharebia à Rabat (October 9, 2009)". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- MOROCCO: Underage marriages increase CRIN, Rabat (January 28, 2011)
- "Morocco: Child marriages continue despite law to curb practice – Adnkronos Culture And Media". adnkronos.com.
- "In Morocco, the rape and death of an adolescent girl prompts calls for changes to the penal code". UNICEF. 28 March 2012.
- "msn". msn.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02.
- "Morocco amends controversial rape marriage law". BBC News. 23 January 2014.
- "LEARNING FROM CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES TO INCREASE GIRLS' PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL" (PDF). Save the Children USA report. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17.
- "Dispatches: Tanzanian High Court Rules Against Child Marriage | Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. 2016-07-08. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- "Mozambique Passes Law to End Child Marriage". Human Rights Watch. 2019-07-19. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Zimbabwe's top court outlaws child marriage | News | DW.COM | 20.01.2016". DW.COM. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- "Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court Outlaws Child Marriages". VOA. Archived from the original on 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- "Landmark ruling hailed | The Herald". www.herald.co.zw. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- "Child marriages declining, says Unicef". BBC News. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
- "Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage" (PDF). UNFPA. p. 24.
- "Women Around the World » Child Marriage in Latin America". Council on Foreign Relations – Women Around the World. Archived from the original on 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- "Early Marriages – Child Spouses" (PDF). UNICEF. 2010. pp. 5–9.
- Myers, Juliette; Harvey, Rowan. "Breaking Vows: Early and Forced Marriage and Girls' Education". London: Plan UK. p. 24.
- "Breaking the Cycle of Teen Pregnancy CDC, US Government (April 2013)". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Understanding State Statutes on Minimum Marriage Age and Exceptions « Tahirih Justice Center". www.tahirih.org.
- Thomsen, Jacqueline (10 May 2018). "Delaware becomes first state to ban child marriage".
- McNamara, Audrey (9 May 2020). "Pennsylvania just became the third state to ban child marriage". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
- Baynes, Chris (8 July 2017). "More than 200,000 children married in US over the last 15 years". The Independent. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
- D'Onofrio, Eve (2005), "Child Brides, Inegalitarianism, and the Fundamentalist Polygamous Family in the United States", International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 19 (3): 373–394, doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebi028.
- Anthony, Paul A. (2 June 2008). "Sect renounces underage marriage as children return". Standard Times – San Angelo. Scripps Newspaper Group. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- Winslow, Ben; O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (June 2, 2008), "FLDS official: No more underage marriages, reunifications begin with the children", Deseret News, retrieved 2013-09-10
- Dobner, Jennifer. Polygamist Leader Convicted in Utah. Associated Press. ABC News. 2007-09-25.
- Blumenthal, Ralph. "Court Says Texas Illegally Seized Sect's Children". The New York Times. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- Winslow, Ben (June 5, 2008), All FLDS children returned to parents, SAN ANGELO, Texas: Deseret News
- Devin Miller (1998-04-17). "Jerry Lee Lewis Online Wild One's Clubhouse: The Largest Jerry Lee Lewis Homepage on the Internet!". Jerry9.tripod.com. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- Cecil Adams (2004-10-01). "What's wrong with cousins marrying?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- Ferguson, Sarah. "What You Need To Know About Child Marriage In The U.S." Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
- Raj, A.; Saggurti, N.; Balaiah, D.; Silverman, J. G. (2009). "Prevalence of child marriage and its effect on fertility and fertility-control outcomes of young women in India: a cross-sectional, observational study". The Lancet. 373 (9678): 1883–1889. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60246-4. PMC 2759702. PMID 19278721.
- Raj, Anita (2012). "Changes in Prevalence of Girl Child Marriage in South Asia". JAMA. 307 (19): 2027–9. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.3497. PMC 4386922. PMID 22665097.
- "Afghanistan – Ending Child Marriage and Domestic Violence" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. September 2013. pp. 3–10.
- "United Nations News Centre". UN News Service Section. 20 May 2013.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld – Afghan Girls Suffer for Sins of Male Relatives". Refworld.
- "Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan". America Magazine. 11 March 2002.
- Power, Carla (12 August 2009), Nujood Ali & Shada Nasser win "Women of the Year Fund 2008 Glamour Award", Yemen Times, retrieved 16 February 2010
- ""How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married?" – Child Marriage in Yemen Human Rights Watch, (2011); pages 15–23" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Yemen's Child Bride Backlash Foreign Policy, April 30, 2010". Archived from the original on 2 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "IRIN Middle East – YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides – Yemen – Gender Issues – Human Rights". IRINnews. 2010-03-28.
- "Yemen: Human Rights Developments", World Report 2001, Human Rights Watch, 2001, retrieved 8 April 2010
- Daragahi, Borzou (June 11, 2008), "Yemeni bride, 10, says I won't", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 16 February 2010
- Mahmoud Assamiee and Nadia Al (25 March 2010), Relative breakthrough in Yemen's early marriage dilemma, Yemen Times, archived from the original on 8 June 2011, retrieved 8 April 2010
- Sadeq Al-Wesabi (25 February 2010), Yemen's children say no to early marriage, Yemen Times, archived from the original on 11 August 2010, retrieved 9 April 2010
- "Yemeni child bride, eight, 'dies on wedding night'". the Guardian. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- "Saudi Human Rights Commission Tackles Child Marriages". Asharq Al Awsat. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- "Top Saudi cleric: OK for young girls to wed". CNN. 17 January 2009.
- "Saudi Arabia to set minimum marriage age following surge in such weddings". www.alarabiya.net. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Turkey – Child Marriage" (PDF). United Nations Population Fund. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
- "Turkish women strive for gender equality". Jerusalem Post. 2013-08-20.
- Charles, Lorraine (2013). "Syrian and Palestinian Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: The Plight of Women and Children". Journal of International Women's Studies.
- Berti, Benedetta (2015). "The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Regional and Human Security Implications". Strategic Assessment.
- Pierson, Elizabeth. "He was 28, I was 13: The stories of Syrian child brides". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- Marshall, H. I., (1922) The Karen of Burma. Bangkok: White Lotus (Reprinted, 1997).
- Indonesia raises minimum age for marriage to curb child brides
- "Indonesia raises minimum age for brides to end child marriage". Reuters. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
- "Facebook blamed for sharp increase in underage marriage in G. Kidul". The Jakarta Post. 2011-08-04. Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- "Cleric With Child Bride Should Be Jailed Six Years, Court Told". The Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03.
- "Indonesia Cleric Jailed for Marrying 12-Year-Old". The Associated Press/CBS News. Nov 24, 2010.
- Metchnikoff, Elie (1903). The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic Philosophy. New York: Putnam. p. 90. ISBN 9780405095788.
- Tan, Royce (30 Jun 2018). "41-year-old Malaysian weds 11-year-old girl in Thailand". The Star Online. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- Busby, Mattha (2 July 2018). "Marriage of 11-year-old girl to a 41-year-old man provokes backlash in Malaysia". Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- "'I'm just 11 and you're 41, but I'll wait for you'". Free Malaysia Today. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- Phung, Adrian (10 July 2018). "Govt powerless to nullify child marriage as it is valid under Islamic laws". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- Chew, Amy (17 July 2018). "Malaysia 'unequivocally' opposes child marriages: DPM Wan Azizah on case of man who married 11-year-old". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- "Wan Azizah: Child marriage incident still under multiple investigations". The Star Online. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- Muah, Nurulfatiha (25 July 2018). "Sekat kahwin bawah umur: Mujahid". Sinar Online. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- "Mujahid: Syariah court will have temporary SOP on child marriage". Star TV. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- Khairulrijal, Rahmat (18 July 2018). "Mujahid wants review of laws which allow child marriages". New Straits Times. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- Loone, Susan (18 July 2018). "Mujahid: Underage marriage must be stopped". Malaysia Kini. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- Habibu, Sira (25 July 2018). "Kelantan PAS: Imposing child marriage blanket ban contravenes religious teachings". The Star Online. Archived from the original on 2018-07-25. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- "PAS says no to ban on child marriage". The Star Online. 26 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- "It's not complicated, Latheefa tells Wan Azizah on child marriage". Free Malaysia Today. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
- "Marina, women's groups join criticism against Wan Azizah over child marriage". Free Malaysia Today. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
- "Selangor to raise minimum age for marriage for Muslim women". Free Malaysia Today. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
- Abdullah, Sharifah Mahsinah (22 July 2018). "[Exclusive] Another child bride case". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- Abdullah, Sharifah Mahsinah (18 September 2018). "Yet another one: 15-year-old girl marries father of two in Tumpat". New Straits Times. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- "Teenage girl marries 44-year-old man in Kelantan". Free Malaysia Today. 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
- "DPM: Child marriage amendments only next year | Malay Mail". Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- Field, Erica; Ambrus, Attila (2008). "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh" (PDF). Journal of Political Economy. 116 (5): 881–930. doi:10.1086/593333.
- Yount, Kathryn M.; Crandall, AliceAnn; Cheong, Yuk Fai; Osypuk, Theresa L.; Bates, Lisa M.; Naved, Ruchira T.; Schuler, Sidney Ruth (2016-12-01). "Child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Bangladesh: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis". Demography. 53 (6): 1821–1852. doi:10.1007/s13524-016-0520-8. ISSN 1533-7790. PMC 5568420. PMID 27812927.
- http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf
- "40 p.c. child marriages in India: UNICEF". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 January 2009.
- "Child Marriage" (PDF). UNICEF.
- "Women and men in India 2012" (PDF). CSO/Census India 2011, Government of India. p. xxi, Highlights item 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12.
- K. Sinha Nearly 50% fall in brides married below 18 The Times of India (February 10, 2012)
- Table C-2 Marital Status by Age and Sex Subtable C0402, India Total Females Married by Age Group, 2001 Census of India, Government of India (2009)
- "Percentage of Female by age at effective marriage and by residence India and bigger States, 2011, chapter 2: Population Composition, Table Statement 12, India totals for < 18, 2011 Census of India, Government of India (2013), page 26" (PDF).
- Htun, M., & Weldon, L., "Sex equality in family law: historical legacies, feminist activism, and religious power in 70 countries" (PDF). World Development Report, (Purdue University, 2012). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-06.
- "Wakf Board bristles at women panel's advice on child marriages". The Times of India.
- Haviland, Charles (5 September 2002). "Battle over India's marriage age". BBC News.
- Call to avoid ambiguity on minimum age of marriage The Hindu (October 29, 2010)
- "Legalising underage marriage is Indian Union Muslim League's new ploy to gain political mileage in Kerala : NATION – India Today". intoday.in.
- "Muslim marital age: CPI(M) criticises, Congress cautious". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Prohibition of Child Marriage Act to prevail over personal laws: HC". 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Child Marriage Act overrides Muslim Personal Law: Karnataka high court – Times of India". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Madras HC says anti-child marriage act prevails over Muslim Personal Law – Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 1 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- Rabi, Amjad (2014). "Cost of Inaction: Child and Adolescent Marriage in Nepal" (PDF). UNICEF Nepal Working Paper Series.
- "Child Marriages in Southern Asia (see Solutions to Ending Child Marriage in Southern Asia: Nepal, Australian AID – ICRW" (PDF). reliefweb.int. 2009.
- Nasrullah, M; et al. (2013). "Bielefeld University, Germany, Girl Child Marriage and Its Effect on Fertility in Pakistan: Findings from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2006–2007". Matern Child Health J. 18 (3): 534–43. doi:10.1007/s10995-013-1269-y. PMID 23580067.
- "Social customs: 'Nearly half of Pakistani women are married before the age of 18' – The Express Tribune". 31 August 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Pakistan's child brides: suffering for others' crimes". thestar.com. 26 August 2013.
- "IRIN Asia – PAKISTAN: Child marriages on the rise across rural Sindh – Pakistan – Children – Human Rights". IRINnews. 31 March 2006.
- Mehreen Zahra-Malik. "Child brides blot tribal Pakistan". aljazeera.com.
- Lane, Samuel (2012). "Stealing innocence: child marriage in Pakistan" (PDF). Abo Akademi University. Finland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
- Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine Zeba Sathar, Cynthia Lloyd, et al., Population Council, with support from UNICEF; pp. 96–101
- Sathar, Zeba; Lloyd, Cynthia; et al. "Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan" (PDF). Population Council, with support from UNICEF. pp. 188–193. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12.
- PM, Vivian Tsai 08/30/12 AT 4:30 (30 August 2012). "Child Bride Practice Rising In Iran, Parliament Seeks To Lower Girl's Legal Marriage Age To 9". International Business Times.
- WATCH: Iranian man marries 11-year-old girl
- "U.N. condemns Iran for increase in child brides as young as 10 years old". 5 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "UN decries child marriages in Iran whose laws permit sexual intercourse with girls as young as 9". 4 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "وجود ۱۵ هزار بیوه زیر ۱۵ سال در کشور". ایسنا. 8 March 2018.
- https://www.oas.org/es/mesecvi/docs/CSW-SideEvent2014-Flyer-EN.pdf
- "Marriage in Austria". Austria. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- Articles 144, 145 and 148 of the Civil Code of Belgium.
- "Family Code : General Provisions" (PDF). Kenarova.com. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- "Council of Europe Family Policy Database : 4. Social Policy and family Law : Marriage, Divorce and Parenthood" (PDF). Coe.int. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- "Youth Policy Fact Sheet : Cyprus" (PDF). Youthpolicy.org. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- "Občanský zákoník (nový) – č. 89/2012 Sb. – Aktuální znění". Zákony pro lidi. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- "SIDSTE STJERNEITEM". Folketinget.
- Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet. "Formalizing a marriage". Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- "Contraction of marriage". Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- Vahtera, Niko (20 February 2019). "Lapsiavioliitot kielletään Suomessa – Oikeusministeri: "Lapsien tulee saada olla lapsia täysi-ikäisyyteen asti"" (in Finnish). Turun Sanomat. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- Code civil - Article 145, retrieved 2019-07-08
- "Bundesgesetzblatt". www.bgbl.de. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- "Getting Married in Greece". Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- "Current Legal Framework: Marriage or Child Marriage in Hungary". impowr.org. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- Citizensinformation.ie. "Legal requirements for marriage". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- "National law and policies on minimum ages – Italy - Right to Education". r2e.gn.apc.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "National law and policies on minimum ages – Latvia - Right to Education". r2e.gn.apc.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Powered by Google Docs". Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- "Mariage et adoption s'ouvrent aux couples de personnes du même sexe". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- "Marriage Act, Section 3 "Restrictions on Marriage"". Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- "wetten.nl - Regeling - Wet tegengaan huwelijksdwang - BWBR0037085". wetten.overheid.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- "National law and policies on minimum ages – Poland - Right to Education". r2e.gn.apc.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Getting Married in Portugal - Portugal - Angloinfo". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Art. 272 Noul cod civil Vârsta matrimonială Condiţiile de fond pentru încheierea căsătoriei Încheierea căsătoriei | Noul Cod Civil actualizat 2015 – Legea 287/2009". Legeaz.net. 2011-10-29. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- "Slovakia – Marriage – Cohabitation, Family, Rights, and Law – JRank Articles". Family.jrank.org. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2017-11-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Marriage. "Marriage". www.lansstyrelsen.se. Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
- "132 gifta barn i Sverige – 65 i Malmö". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- "Marriage Act 1949". www.legislation.gov.uk. sections 2, 3 and 78 as amended by the Family Law Reform Act 1987. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- "National Records of Scotland – Getting Married in Scotland – What Was and Is The Minimum Age For Marriage in Scotland?". Gro-scotland.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- Archived September 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Doyle, Alister (21 April 2016). "Child brides sometimes tolerated in Nordic asylum centers despite bans". Reuters (Oslo). Retrieved 22 April 2016.
10 of those aged under 16 – the minimum local age for sex or marriage – were married and four had children, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) said. Of the 10 "some live in adult asylum centers, some in their own rooms and some with their partners", it said in emailed replies to Reuters questions ... Minister Inger Støjberg said that she would "stop housing child brides in asylum centers" after a review found dozens of cases of girls living with older men. ... authorities said that at least 70 girls under 18 were married in asylum centers run by municipalities including Stockholm and Malmo.
- "SIDSTE STJERNEITEM". Folketinget.
- "Lapsiavioliitot kielletään Suomessa – Oikeusministeri: "Lapsien tulee saada olla lapsia täysi-ikäisyyteen asti"". ts.fi (in Finnish). 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- "Romanian gypsy children become engaged aged six and four". 11 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- "Bulgarian Roma Girls Still Quitting School Young". 2016-02-22. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- http://kenarova.com/law/Family%20Code.pdf
- "Art. 272 Noul cod civil Vârsta matrimonială Condiţiile de fond pentru încheierea căsătoriei Încheierea căsătoriei". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- "Gypsy child couple separated". 2 October 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- Ishaan, Ishaan (1 April 2016). "Refugee child bride went on a hunger strike after Belgium separated her from husband". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
Official figures indicate some 17 child brides arrived among the refugee influx last year and another seven this year ... Belgium has had wider concerns over the prevalence of forced child marriages among some of the country's communities. Between 2010 and 2013, the police registered at least 56 complaints about a forced marriage.
- "Kinderehen: 1475 Minderjährige in Deutschland sind verheiratet". Spiegel Online. 2016-09-09. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
- "National Rapporteur concerned about Syrian child brides and Roma children". National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
child marriages occur in the Netherlands, drawing attention to the Syrian child brides who travel from Syria, often with an adult male. Between September 2015 and January 2016 around 60 child brides entered the Netherlands.
- "Key advisor warns on Syrian child brides, calls for more action – DutchNews.nl". 15 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- "Some 60 Syrian child brides, as young as 14, entered Netherlands". 14 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- Ishaan, Ishaan (1 April 2016). "Refugee child bride went on a hunger strike after Belgium separated her from husband". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
Last year, asylum centers next door in the Netherlands were reportedly housing 20 child brides between ages 13 and 15.
- "Ст. 13 Семейного кодекса РФ" (in Russian). Garant. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
- "Закон Республики Адыгея от 30 ноября 1998 г. N 101 "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак граждан Российской Федерации в возрасте от четырнадцати до шестнадцати лет, постоянно либо преимущественно проживающих на территории Республики Адыгея"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Калужской области от 06 июня 1997 года №10-ОЗ "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак на территории Калужской области лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 1997-05-29. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Магаданской области от 04 мая 2001 года №182-ОЗ "О порядке и условиях получения разрешения на вступление в брак на территории Магаданской области лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет" (с изменениями на: 10.03.2016)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Московской области от 30 апреля 2008 года №61/2008–ОЗ "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак на территории Московской области лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет" (с изменениями на 15 июля 2015 года)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Постановление Правительства Нижегородской области от 23 октября 2013 года №765 "Об утверждении Положения о порядке принятия решений о разрешении на вступление в брак гражданам, не достигшим возраста шестнадцати лет, в Нижегородской области"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Новгородской области от 02 февраля 2009 года №465-ОЗ "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак на территории Новгородской области лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет" (с изменениями на: 25.04.2014)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Орловской области от 04 марта 2011 года №1177-ОЗ "О порядке и условиях выдачи разрешения на вступление в брак лицам, не достигшим возраста шестнадцати лет, в Орловской области"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Сахалинской области от 11 июля 2005 года №46-ЗО "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак граждан, проживающих на территории Сахалинской области, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет" (ред. от 29.06.2015)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Тамбовской области от 24 июня 1997 года №120-З "О порядке и условиях вступления в брак на территории Тамбовской области лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет" (с изменениями на 5 мая 2014 года)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Республики Татарстан от 13 января 2009 года №4-ЗРТ "Семейный кодекс Республики Татарстан" (с изменениями на 07.05.2016)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Вологодской области от 14 августа 1996 года №95-ОЗ "О снижении брачного возраста" (с изменениями на: 27.11.2000)". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2000-11-27. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Мурманской области от 18 ноября 1996 года №42-01-ЗМО "Об условиях и порядке вступления в брак лиц, не достигших возраста шестнадцати лет"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 1996-11-18. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- "Закон Рязанской области от 30 декабря 2014 года №105-ОЗ "О порядке и условиях выдачи разрешения на вступление в брак лицам, не достигшим возраста шестнадцати лет"". Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации (in Russian). Kodeks. 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- Caloum, Leslie (2014-02-04). "How has Scotland's law on marriage evolved over the centuries?". BBC News. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- "Did You Know? – How to Get Married in Scotland". Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- Hill, Amelia. "Revealed: the child brides who are forced to marry in Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- "'Girl Summit' Aims To End Child Marriage – Yahoo News UK". Uk.news.yahoo.com. 2014-07-22. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- Lisiansky, Urey (1814). "A Voyage Round the World". google.com.
- Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803, 1804, 1805 und 1806 auf Befehl Seiner Kaiserliche Majestät Alexanders des Ersten auf den Schiffen Nadeschda und Newa (Journey around the World in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806 at the Command of his Imperial Majesty Alexander I in the Ships Nadezhda and Neva) published in Saint Petersburg in 1810. volume I, p. 116
- Voyage autour du monde par Étienne Marchand, précédé d'une introduction historique; auquel on a joint des recherches sur les terres australes de Drake, et un examen critique de voyage de Roggeween, avec cartes et figures, Paris, years VI-VIII, 4 vol. p109
- International Encyclopedia of Sexuality in volume 1, French Polynesia (Anne Bolin, Ph.D.), 5. Interpersonal Heterosexual Behaviors, A. Children, edited by Robert T. Francoeur publish by Continuum International Publishing Group
- "CCIES at The Kinsey Institute: French Polynesia". kinseyinstitute.org. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27.
- "The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: French Polynesia". hu-berlin.de. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-12-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i". hu-berlin.de. Archived from the original on 2008-12-24.
- Bunting, Annie. 2005. Stages of development: marriage of girls and teens as an international human rights issue. Social and Legal Studies 14(2):17–38
- "I have a right to | BBC World Service". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- "Yemeni child bride dies of internal bleeding". cnn.com.
- Cook, Rebecca J.; Dickens, Bernard M.; Syed, S. (2004). "Obstetric fistula: the challenge to human rights". International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 87 (1): 72–77. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2004.07.005. PMID 15464787.
- "Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa. Emerging Infectious Diseases". Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - International Center for Research in Women (2005), Too young to wed: education & action toward ending child marriage. Washington DC
- Lee-Rife, Susan; Malhotra, Anju; Warner, Ann; McGonagle Glinski, Allison (2012). "What Works to Prevent Child Marriage: A Review of the Evidence". Studies in Family Planning. 43 (4): 287–303. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2012.00327.x. PMID 23239248.
- "Individual Characteristics and Use of Maternal and Child Health Services by Adolescent Mothers in Niger". Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - Haberland, Nicole, Eric L. Chong, and Hillary J. Bracken. 2006. A world apart: the disadvantage and social isolation of married adolescent girls. Brief based on background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents. New York: The Population Council
- "Council on Foreign Relations".
- Raj, Anita; Saggurti, Niranjan; Lawrence, Danielle; Balaiah, Donta; Silverman, Jay G. (2010). "Association between adolescent marriage and marital violence among young adult women in India". International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 110 (1): 35–39. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.01.022. PMC 3260080. PMID 20347089.
- "Child Marriage And the Law" (PDF). UNICEF.
- Clark, Shelley; Bruce, Judith; Dude, Annie (2006). "Protecting young women from HIV/AIDS: the case against child and adolescent marriage". International Family Planning Perspectives. 32 (2): 79–88. doi:10.1363/3207906. PMID 16837388.
- "United Nations Official Document". Un.org. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- Stuart, Hunter (16 October 2013). "Country With The Most Child Brides Won't Agree To End Forced Child Marriage". Huffington Post.
- "UN Takes Major Action to End Child Marriage | Center for Reproductive Rights". Reproductiverights.org. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- Girls Not Brides (2013-09-27). "States adopt first-ever resolution on child, early and forced marriage at Human Rights Council". Girls Not Brides. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- Liz Ford. "Campaigners welcome 'milestone' agreement at UN gender equality talks | Global development". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
- Chandra- Mouli, Venkatraman; Virginia Camacho, Alma; Michaud, Pierre-Andre (2013). "WHO Guidelines on Preventing Early Pregnancy and Poor Reproductive Outcomes Among Adolescents in Developing Countries". Journal of Adolescent Health. 52 (5): 517–22. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.03.002. PMID 23608717.
- Parsons, Jennifer; McCleary-Sills, Jennifer. 2014. Preventing child marriage: lessons from World Bank Group gender impact evaluations. enGender Impact : the World Bank's Gender Impact Evaluation Database. Washington, DC : World Bank Group.
- "The Global Campaign for the Prevention of Child Marriage". cpnn-world.org. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
- "The Global campaign for the prevention of child marriage". World News TV, UK. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
- "More power to her: how empowering girls can end child marriage". ICRW | PASSION. PROOF. POWER. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
- Mlambo-Ngcuka, Phumzile. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6366400305088733184. Retrieved 7 February 2018. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - Jain, Saranga, and Kathleen Kurz. 2007. New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage. International Center for Research on Women. Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine.
- "Child marriage database". UNICEF. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- Bahgam, S; Mukhatari (2004). "Study on Child Marriage in Afghanistan" (PDF). Medica Mondiale: 1–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- "Child marriage around the world: ANGOLA", Girls Not Brides
- Atlas Girls Not Brides. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- "Chad - Child marriage around the world". Girls not brides. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- "Democratic Republic of the Congo - Child marriage around the world". Girls not brides. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- "Child marriage around the world: CAMEROON", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: CONGO", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: ETHIOPIA", Girls Not Brides
- Srivastava, Roli (6 March 2018). "India's child marriage numbers drop sharply, driving down global rate: UNICEF". Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- "Child marriage widespread in Bihar, Rajasthan and Bengal: Unicef report". India Today. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- "Child marriage around the world: COTE D'IVORE", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: NIGERIA", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: MALI", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: SENEGAL", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: SOMALIA", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: SOUTH SUDAN", Girls Not Brides
- "Child marriage around the world: ZIMBABWE", Girls Not Brides
- "Data Warehouse - UNICEF DATA". www.unicef.org. United Nations Children's Fund. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
External links
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Child marriage |
