Pandemic might increase child marriages, warns UNICEF

* Photo: Henrietta Fore-unicef.org

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Releasing an analysis on the occasion of March 8 International Women's Day, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that ten million additional child marriages may occur worldwide before the end of the decade, threatening years of progress in reducing it.

In its analysis titled "COVID-19: A threat to progress against child marriage", the UN agency has noted that school closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy, and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.

According to the statement of UNICEF, even before the COVID-19 outbreak, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the next decade, despite significant reductions in several countries in recent years.

UNICEF has noted that in the last ten years, the proportion of young women globally who were married as children had decreased by 15 percent, from nearly one in four to one in five, the equivalent of some 25 million marriages averted, a gain that is now under threat.

According to the estimations of UNICEF, worldwide, around 650 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood, with about half of those occurring in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria.

'It has made the situation even worse'

Speaking about the issue, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has said, "COVID-19 has made an already difficult situation for millions of girls even worse. Shuttered schools, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty have added fuel to a fire the world was already struggling to put out. But we can and we must extinguish child marriage."

"One year into the pandemic, immediate action is needed to mitigate the toll on girls and their families," Fore has noted, adding:

"By reopening schools, implementing effective laws and policies, ensuring access to health and social services – including sexual and reproductive health services – and providing comprehensive social protection measures for families, we can significantly reduce a girl's risk of having her childhood stolen through child marriage."

Lifelong consequences for girls

UNICEF statement has underlined that girls who marry in childhood face immediate and lifelong consequences, sharing the following information:

"They are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. Child marriage increases the risk of early and unplanned pregnancy, in turn increasing the risk of maternal complications and mortality.

"The practice can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, taking a heavy toll on their mental health and well-being.

"COVID-19 is profoundly affecting the lives of girls. Pandemic-related travel restrictions and physical distancing make it difficult for girls to access the health care, social services and community support that protect them from child marriage, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence.

"As schools remain closed, girls are more likely to drop out of education and not return. Job losses and increased economic insecurity may also force families to marry their daughters to ease financial burdens."

CLICK - 'School closures have devastating consequences for children'

(AÖ/SD)