Girls living in the poorest, rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the most vulnerable. Child marriage robs them of their childhoods, education, health and freedom, and can leave girls vulnerable to abuse for the rest of their lives. studies: Girls who marry before they are 18 are more likely to become victims of violence from their partner, with the risk increasing as the age gap between the couple gets larger.More than 250 million women alive today were married before their 15th birthday, many against their will. Young brides also confront more violence, according to U.N. She said women activists grouped under a project 'Girls, Not Brides,' are trying to engage community leaders and traditional chiefs to end early and forced marriages. Flavia Bustreo of the WHO.Įarly marriages also will prevent South Sudan from achieving the goal of having women hold 25 percent of government jobs, said Lorna James Elia of the local Voices for Change advocacy group. 'By ending early marriages we can avert up to 30 percent of maternal deaths and also reduce the neonatal mortality rate,' she said in a statement published by the World Health Organization.Ĭomplications of pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in young women aged 15 to 19 years in developing countries, according to Dr. She said teen pregnancies accounted for up to 30 percent of maternal deaths in that southern African country. millennium goals to improve child mortality and reduce maternal deaths, according to Malawi's Health Minister Catherine Gotani Hara. Reducing child marriages is key to achieving U.N. They also beat my mother because she was against the marriage.' They said, `You will marry this old man whether you like it or not because he has given us something to eat.' They beat me so badly. 'They said, `If you want your siblings to be taken care of, you will marry this man.' I said he is too old for me. 'This man went to my uncles and paid a dowry of 80 cows. Government statistics in South Sudan show half the girls there aged 15 to 19 are married, with some brides as young as 12 years old.

National hotline to help American girls facing forced marriage.

In terms of absolute numbers, India, because of its large population, has the most child marriages with child brides in 47 percent of all marriages.

Most child marriages take place in South Asia and rural sub-Saharan Africa, according to the population fund. In Bangladesh the figure is 66 percent and in Central African Republic and Chad it is 68 percent.

The highest number of cases occurs in some of the poorest countries, the agency figures show, with the West African nation of Niger at the bottom of the list with 75 percent of girls married before they turn 18. Population Fund, referring to females under the age of 18. More than one-third of all girls are married in 42 countries, according to the U.N. They are among 39,000 girls forced into marriage every day around the world, sold like cattle to enrich their families. The teen dragged by her family to be raped to force her into marrying an elderly man. JUBA, South Sudan The 17-year-old beaten to death for refusing to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather.

Arranged marriage countries