Number of girls and women married in childhood in west and central africa nigeria 22 million benin 900,000. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls girls in many resourcepoor countries often have little choice about whom or when they marry. Nigeria has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5. Child brides facing death sentences a decade after child marriage prohibited ten years after underage marriage was prohibited, 39% of girls. Median age at first marriage or union among women aged 20 to 24 years, in selected countries the practice of child marriage is slowly declining. You may have heard a lot about nigerian traditional marriage.
Marriage act 4 years ago admin laws and acts governing the system. Short title this act may be cited as the marriage act. Abstract this brief has provided a basic profile of child marriage in nigeria. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and forced. Conversely, attending school and having higher levels of education protect girls from the possibility of early marriage. The socioeconomic effect of early marriage in north.
Help put an end to early and forced marriage and the damage it causes to a girls health and her wellbeing. In many cultures, including that of nigeria, marriage is regarded as a legitimate way for two. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and forced marriage through acquiring skills findings from implementation research in nigeria judithann walker tuesday, august 6, 2019. Traditional marriage in nigeria, see all the tribes. Overall, the risk of school dropout due to marriage heightens after girls complete the fifth or sixth grade. Early marriage and its implications on the nigerian economy ssrn.
Indigenous marriage institutions and divorce in nigeria 166 obtains in one society, to a large extent influences that in another society 3,4. A harmful traditional practice 11 women who had used modern contraception. While early marriage takes many different forms and has various causes, one issue is paramount. Nigeria, particularly northern nigeria, has some of the highest rates of early marriage in the world.
This was achieved through the marriage ordinance 1914, which applied throughout nigeria. Identify the effect of early marriage on the academic performance on girl child. Child spouses this digest focuses on early marriage the marriage of children and young people under the age of 18 from a human rights perspective. All hands therefore need to be on deck to solve this problem since children are too immature both physically and mentally to fight on their own. An early married couple is usually expected to have more children than a relatively late married couple early marriage. Globally, 1 in 4 young women alive today were married in childhood versus 1 in 3 in the early 1980s. It was found that early marriage is the most common reason given for leaving school. Marriage act an act to make provisions for the celebration of marriages. Nigeria is the 11th highest nation in the world for percentage of child marriages data shows a 9% decline in the prevalence of child marriage compared to 2003. Child marriage is the formal or informal marriage of a child under the age of 18 most often the marriage of a young girl to an older boy or man. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls. The state of married adolescents in northern nigeria. Early marriage in nigeria causes consequences and solution.
Many girls who are married off before they turn 18 or are forced into early marriages are made to leave school, depriving them of their right to education and future independence. The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child. The share of women ages 1822 who married as children is 42. Building resilience and resistance to child, early, and. According to an assessment conducted by unicef in 2005, among women ages 15 to 24, 48 percent were married before the age of 18 in south asia, 42 percent in africa, and 29 percent in latin america. Early and forced marriage, child, child rights, nigeria. Children should have childhoods and not be forced into marriages. Legal issues, complications, implications, prospects and solutions article pdf available january 2014 with,619 reads how we measure reads. Forced early marriages are known to cause reproductive health risk to the girl child and they. Identify government aid towards the stopping of early marriage in nigeria.
Zehadul karim international islamic university of malaysia malaysia abstract though a lot of research have been concerned with school dropout issue for both girls and boys. In many parts of the world parents encourage the marriage of their daughters while they are still children in hopes that the marriage will benefit them both financially and socially, while also. Pdf early marriage and its implications on the nigerian economy. Shahidul international islamic university of malaysia malaysia a. Should be able to tell if early marriage is higher in. It repealed the marriage ordinance 1908, the marriage proclamation 1907, and the foreign marriage ordinance 19. The child rights act, passed in 2003, raised the minimum age. Two types of consent are involved hereconsent of the parties and parental consent. The principal requirements of valid islamic law marriage are. Child marriage is one of the burning problems of indian.
Major types of marriage in nigeria updated 2019 legit. To know the general attitude of the public towards early marriage. Early marriage has been a common practice among many ethnic groups in the world. Early marriage is used to refer both formal marriage and informal unions in which a girl lives with a partner as if married before age of 18,early marriage also known as child marriage is defined as any marriage carried out below the age of18 years before the girl is physically, physiologically. However, marriage is regarded as a moment of celebration and a. It is based on the premise of a coordination platform led by the federal ministry of women affairs and social development and cochaired by save the children.
Introduction marriage before the age of 18 is a reality for many young women. The implications of early marriage on the girlchild that negatively impacts her wellbeing and that of the. Child, early, and forced marriage and psychological trauma of girls in northeast. The impact of early marriage taking action the need for research in conclusion links references innocenti digest no. For instance, infidelity, infertility, laziness and unhygienic behaviours are some of the major causes of divorce in many societies and women with these attributes are usually returned to their parents. Limited education and economic options little or no schooling strongly correlates with being married at a young age. The national strategic plan to end child marriage in nigeria 20162021 aims to highlight the multisectoral, multifaceted activities needed to end child marriage in nigeria. Negative effects of early marriage on girls include early widowhood, the spread of hivaids, prostitution, family problems, medical problems, and suicide bamgbose july 2002, 45. Pdf child marriage is often deployed as a response to crisis, considered by families and communities to be the best possible means of protecting.
The share of girls marrying very early, before the age of 15. The 2003 nigeria demographic and health survey ndhs shows that early marriage is prevalent across nigeria. Legality of child marriage in nigeria and inhibitions against realisation of education rights kayode olatunbosun fayokun obafemi awolowo university, ileife, nigeria early marriage forces girls into adulthood before they are emotionally and physically matured, leading to a range of harmful effects on their health, education, and economic and. Having established the significant prevalence of early marriage in nigeria, and the social constructs that. Child marriage in niger is a cultural issue, not an islamic one. National strategy to end child marriage in nigeria 2016. Ending child marriage and meeting the needs of married. The merger of northern and southern nigeria in 1914 made it imperative to streamline the marriage laws in the new political entity, nigeria. Early marriage is particularly prevalent in rural areas. One specific health problem associated with earlyforced marriage that is particularly prevalent in. The paper examines the socioeconomic effect of early marriage in north western nigeria using zaria local government as a case study. Child marriage not in conformity with nigerian law.
End early and forced marriage for girls in nigeria. Child marriage in west and central africa is one of. Marriage traditions is one of such culturally resplendent practices and jumia travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 interesting nigerian marriage traditions to know. Effect of child marriage on girls school dropout in nepal. The highest proportions of married adolescents are in the northern. The risk of girls dropping out peaks in the seventh and eighth grades and. Traditional marriage in urhobo the traditional marriage of the urhobo people is so unique that if people have a tribe to single out as one that have aone in all marriage arrangements, urhobo is there to be picked.
A visit to the worlds fifth poorest country has shown me that battling early and forced marriage begins with communities. Early and forced marriages in nigeria exists and needs to be curbed on time. Although marriage under islamic law possesses most of the features of customary law marriage already discussed, it is necessary to consider, that system separately. Besides having a negative impact on girls themselves. Trends in marriage and divorce figure 1 lays out some facts about marriage and divorce in the united states over the last 150 years. The majority of girls in the north experience first sex in. If you are lucky enough to find your love, sooner or later you will have to legitimize your relationship. In 2017 in nigeria, 43% of girls are married off before the age of 18. While the age of marriage is generally on the rise, early marriage marriage of children and adolescents below the age of 18 is still widely practiced. The alleged underage marriage provision is an existing law in the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria as contained in section 29 clauses 4b which states that any woman that. The experience of married adolescent girls in northern nigeria. In minna, nigeria, where conservative sharia islamic law is in effect, the international centre for reproductive health and sexual rights increse is helping to prevent child marriage by educating girls and empowering.