Mar 6, 2018

Child marriage down 15% over last decade, with big drop in India

Zachary Basu

Child marriage in India — Photo by UNICEF/UN062021/Vishwanathan

The number of women around the world who were married as children has dropped 15% in the last decade, according to new data from UNICEF. The group says if rates hadn't been lowered, 25 million more child marriages would have taken place.

Why it matters: An estimated 650 million women alive today were married as children, with the current rate down to about 12 million child marriages a year. But despite progress being made against the practice — which has been linked to sex trafficking, teenage pregnancy and domestic abuse — the UN's goal of eliminating child marriage by 2030 is far off.

In South Asia, the rate of child marriage has fallen from an astounding 50% down to about 30%, in large part thanks to increased access to girls' education and strong public messaging in India.

The NY Times reported on this trend in the rural Indian state of Bihar, where 69% of women surveyed in 2005 said they were married as children.
Indian lawmakers criminalized child marriage in 2006, but enforcement remains a challenge — especially in areas where families believe it can "shield [children] from unwelcome sexual advances and consolidate families’ status in a community."
A review of census data revealed another disturbing trend: "In pockets of India, incidents of child marriage are decreasing in rural areas, but increasing in urban settings," possibly because people are relocating to cities.

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Child marriage down 15% over last decade, with big drop in India

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