*SDG5.3     
*Fight for Education and Knowledge, Help END Child Marriage

While 96% of countries have laws that identify the legal age for marriage, there are still countries that do not specify a minimum age and most are African countries. According to the UN, even some countries that do have laws grant exemptions using courts or parental permission that allow minors to wed. Early marriage not only exposes girls to sexual exploitation and violence, but it also denies their right of education and future opportunities.

There are still a lot of countries with very low education levels for women, most of which are African countries. These same countries also have a very high early marriage rate for women (age below 18).

There exists a strong correlation between early marriage of women and women educational level.

Early marriage should stop in all countries, especially countries suffering from a low level of education for women.

So, what is the solution?

The best way to tackle the problem on the short run is to enforce laws and policies that prohibit people under a specified age (at least 18) from getting married, and which allow no exceptions. Another suitable solution is to raise general awareness of the issue and its massive effects. This could be done by inviting women and parents with changed views and victims of early marriage to speak of the matter. And finally, we should work on reducing sexism and promoting gender equality by empowering women and integrating them in public activities and politics.

To validate this solution, Bangladesh followed such an approach in 2017 by enforcing a Child Marriage Restraint Act that set the minimum age of marriage for women at 18 and for men at 21. This act positively influenced the overall educational level of women where the average female enrollment in secondary schools increased from 75.22% in 2017 to 81.5% in 2020 as you can see in the figure below .

African countries have long struggled with poverty and are still struggling until this very day. While policies can be set to reduce early marriage on the short run, the challenge is in decreasing poverty which is often the reason why families marry off their daughters in the first place and the reason why parents prefer rich sons-in-law to assist them financially.

Use the below visual for an interactive experience:

Done by: Lara Baltaji