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Families are mired in poverty by the pandemic, forcing girls to marry early (file photo)
The coronavirus pandemic could spark an increase in child marriages globally, reversing 25 years of progress to end the practice, a charity has warned.
Save the Children said that Covid-19 had put 2.5 million more girls at risk of early marriage by 2025.
The pandemic is increasing poverty, forcing girls to drop out of school and work or marry, the charity said.
Girls in parts of South Asia, Africa and Latin America are the most vulnerable.
The UK-based charity is calling on world leaders to commit more funding and support to efforts to tackle child marriage and gender inequality.
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“These marriages violate girls’ rights and leave them at increased risk of depression, lifelong violence, disabilities and even death,” said Karen Flanagan, Save the Children’s Child Protection Advisor.
He said 78.6 million child marriages had been prevented in the past 25 years, but progress to end the practice had “slowed to a halt.”
how big is the problem?
About 12 million girls are victims of early marriage each year, the charity says.
But their report finds that the number is expected to rise markedly over the next five years as the economic fallout from the pandemic takes its toll.
In 2020 alone, another 500,000 girls are at risk of being forced into child marriages and as many as a million more are expected to become pregnant, the charity says.
If no action is taken, there could be 61 million child marriages by 2025, according to the charity, but this estimate may just be “the tip of the iceberg.”
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“The pandemic means that more families are being pushed into poverty, forcing many girls to work to support their families and drop out of school, with far less chance than boys to return,” Bill Chambers, President and CEO of charity, he said.
“An increasing risk of violence and sexual exploitation combined with increasing food and economic insecurity also means that many parents feel they have no alternative but to force their young daughters to marry older men.”
‘Girls give their bodies to older men’
For its report, Save the Children spoke with Esther, who lives in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Closure measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in your community have closed schools and some public spaces.
For the moment, she enjoys helping her mother care for her family’s chickens, but the economic impact of the pandemic is being felt, and particularly among girls.
“Many parents in my neighborhood once sold produce at the large outdoor market. But because of the confinement, they no longer do anything,” Esther said. “Girls have to turn to older men to support themselves.”
‘I can never compromise my education’
The charity also spoke with Abena, a 16-year-old Save the Children advisor in Ethiopia.
Abena has worked with local communities to prevent girls from being forced to marry older men. Despite this, Abena’s parents still wanted her to marry at 16 to “an educated and well-off man.”
Abena persuaded them that she should continue her education.
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“My answer was ‘no way,'” he said. “I can never compromise my education, and the marriage application itself is a violation of the rights of a girl as long as she is under the age of 18.”
The charity’s Global Girlhood Report 2020, released Thursday, looks at the effects of Covid-19 on gender equality around the world.
The report also found that:
- Girls affected by humanitarian crises face the greatest risks of child marriage
- Nine of the 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are considered fragile states
- The pandemic has led to an increase in reports of gender-based violence around the world, with an estimated one in 10 girls experiencing rape or sexual violence.
- The UN expects a further two million cases of female genital mutilation to occur over the next 10 years due to the pandemic.
More on child marriage:
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