The United Nations Population Fund released a report to coincide with the inaugural Day of the Girl Child, detailing how millions of girls each year are still being pushed to wed much-older men with statistics showing that one in three young girls are affected around the world (excluding China).
Child marriage continues to plague developing countries across the world, where girls as young as six are wed to men sometimes four, five, six or seven times their age.
Many will become pregnant and die while giving birth ? the leading cause of death among 15-to-19-year-old girls in these countries, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“No country can afford the lost opportunity, waste of talent or personal exploitation that child marriage causes,” said UNFPA’s executive director Babatunde Osotimehin.
Despite efforts to crack down on child marriage, laws aren’t enforced and weddings are held in secrecy ? and the number of girls forced to wed is actually increasing.
It’s most rampant in Asia, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, but also still prevalent in parts of Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, according to the report.
One in three girls in the developing world will marry before they turn 18. Those with no education are most likely to be married. It’s a trend that propagates poverty, STDs and economic dependency.
“I was given to my husband when I was little and I don’t even remember when I was given because I was so little,” said one girl named Kansas, 18. “It’s my husband who brought me up.”
UNFPA urges governments to end child marriage by enforcing laws, identifying the areas where girls are most at risk of becoming a child bride, and expanding prevention programs.