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Every minute, 23 girls around the world wed, according to the Girls Not Brides campaign, a coalition of more than 1,000 organisations across 100 countries. No child should be married. But girls are far more likely to be affected than boys, accounting for nine in 10 of those wed before 18, and their spouses are often much older men. The consequences, beyond the immediate threat of sexual violence, include the shortening of their education, increased risks of poverty and domestic abuse, and poor health, including high rates of maternal mortality. In spring, the Center for Global Development thinktank estimated that child marriage costs $175bn annually in lost productivity and increased health risks.
The good news is that the last decade has seen a drop in rates; last year alone, Grenada, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Kuwait and Portugal introduced bans. But there are disturbing signs of regression elsewhere. In May, the Taliban issued a new judicial code enabling child marriage below the previous minimum age of 16, and preventing wives from ending marriages they entered as children if their husbands object. Previous protections were inadequate and often poorly enforced; now even those have been swept away. Activists say forced and early marriages have soared since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, thanks to the ban on secondary education and the state of the economy.
Child marriage is almost double the global average in countries experiencing conflict or other crises, with more than one in three girls marrying before they turn 18, Girls Not Brides reports. The breakdown of economic and support systems, and the exacerbation of factors driving child marriage, such as patriarchal values, can leave families seeing marriage as the only way to protect their daughters – even though they frequently face violence from their husbands. In Gaza, the rate of child marriages dropped from more than 28% in 2009 to just under 18% in 2022. The war has reversed that progress, says the UN Population Fund, with case workers reporting steeply rising rates.
Yet child marriage happens in the developing world too. Under-18s could marry in all 50 states of the US until 2018; 17 states have now passed bans, but three – New Mexico, California and Mississippi – still have no age floor. England and Wales raised the minimum age to 18 in 2023; in Northern Ireland, those aged 16 and older can marry with parental consent, and in Scotland they can marry without it. In Australia, 16- and 17-year-olds may marry “in exceptional circumstances”.
There is still cause for optimism. Although laws are often evaded – sometimes through corruption, more frequently because marriages are not officially registered – they still send an important message. In Sierra Leone, which raised the minimum marriage age to 18 in 2024, the first trial has begun over the forcible marriage of a 17-year-old. Four men, including the girl’s father and alleged groom, face jail sentences of at least 15 years or fines. The new law allows even guests at the wedding of a child to be imprisoned.
Advocacy targeting girls as well as their communities is essential, helping some to resist marriage. Cuts to overseas aid now threaten such work. Child marriage will not end until girls also have educational and economic opportunities, reproductive healthcare and some measure of security. This must be a priority.
