Some countries mistakenly believe marrying off a girl before 18 can protect her from sexual violence
One in three girls in the developing world are said to be married before the age of 18, and if child marriage is not reduced, the global number of women married as children will reach 1.2 billion by 2050, according to Girls Not Brides, an international organization. (Getty Images)
About 1.1 billion girls live in the world today, but not all live equally.
The United Nations observes Oct. 11 as International Day of the Girl Child in an effort to spread awareness about gender inequality worldwide and to empower young girls around the globe. Such inequalities include general discrimination, access to education, nutrition, medical care and forced child marriage.
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This year's theme – "EmPOWER girls: Before, during and after conflict" – centers on the challenges and barriers to progress that girls face internationally as a result of instability and inequality in their home nations. The statistics are striking.
"Displaced and vulnerable women and girls face higher risks of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as damage to their livelihoods; girls are 2.5 times more likely than boys to miss school during disasters; and displaced girls are often married off as children in an effort to ensure their security," according to The U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Here's a look at some of the most unsettling facts surrounding the global issue of child marriage:
1. One in three girls in the developing world are said to be married before the age of 18, and if child marriage is not reduced, the global number of women married as children will reach 1.2 billion by 2050, according to Girls Not Brides, an international organization.
2. More than 700 million women alive today were married as children, Girls Not Brides reports.
3. Poverty has the ability to place a girl at risk for marriage, but child marriage is also often a result of the perception that marriage will "protect" the child, according to UNICEF. The United Nations Population Fund explains that "many impoverished parents believe that marriage will secure their daughters’ future by ensuring that another family will be responsible for their care. This is also true in humanitarian crises, when many parents fear they will be unable to protect or care for their daughters. Some mistakenly believe marriage will protect their daughters from sexual violence, which is often exacerbated in times of crisis."
4. Child marriage occurs in every region of the world, even in high-income nations like the United States and the United Kingdom.
5. South Asia reportedly has the highest overall prevalence of child marriage, with one in two girls married before the age of 18.
6. But Niger, Central African Republic and Chad have the three highest rates of child marriage.
7. A lack of access to education is a cause and a consequence of child marriage, according to Human Rights Watch, an international rights group. The group reports that 32 million primary school and 29 million lower-secondary school-age girls are out of school around the world, and almost two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women.
8. Leadership in Tanzania and some other countries have enforced policies that bar married or pregnant girls from attending school.
9. Girls forced into child marriage often become pregnant while still adolescents, which increases the risk of complications in pregnancy or childbirth, according to the United Nations Population Fund. In some of the most extreme cases, the complications can lead to death.
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