Teenage marriage is challenging issues in Developing countries

1. CHETKANT BHUSAL
MPH 3rd Batch
National Medical College Teaching Hospital
Birgunj, Nepal

2.  A teenager, or teen, is a young person
whose age falls within the range from thirteen
through nineteen (13–19). They are called
teenagers because their age number ends in
"teen".
 Someone aged 18 or 19 is also considered a
young adult.
 A teenager is any person who is between the
ages of 13 and 19; during this important stage
of human development, boys and girls reach
puberty, although this may happen at different
ages, depending on a boy or girl's specific
hereditary factors.

3. Changes Boys Go Through During Puberty
During puberty, boys will go through the following
changes:
• The growth of hair: Under the arms, in the pubic
region, and sometimes on the chest or face (beard
and moustache)
• Deepening voice; the voice will "break" and
become more like a man's voice
• Sexual feelings and erections, "wet dreams", etc

4. Changes Girls Go Through During Puberty
• Menstrual periods will begin during the teenage
years (although they may start before and after the
teens, in very rare cases)
• Hair grows under the arms, on the legs, and in the
pubic region
• Sexual feelings will develop; these may manifest
themselves as intense "crushes"

5. Definition
 The legally or formally recognized union of a
man and a woman (or , in some jurisdictions,
two people of the same sex) as partners in a
relationship.
 A union between persons that is recognized by
customs or religious traditions as a marriage.
 A forced marriage is defined as a marriage
"conducted without the valid consent of one or
both parties and is a marriage in which duress -
whether physical or emotional - is a factor"

6.  Teen marriage is
typically defined as the
union of
two adolescents, joined
in marriage from the age
range of 13–19 years
old.

7.  Teen marriage, which has existed for centuries, is a
complex issue, rooted deeply in gender inequality,
tradition and poverty.
 The practice is most common in rural and
impoverished areas, where prospects for girls can be
limited.
 In many cases, parents arrange these marriages and
young girls have no choice.

8.  Many factors contribute to teen marriage such
as love, teen pregnancy, religion, security, family
and peer pressure, arranged marriage, economic
and political reasons, and cultural reasons.
 Studies have shown that teenage married couples
are often less advantageous, may come from
broken homes, may have little education and work
low status jobs in comparison to those that marry
after adolescence

9.  Teen marriage: Still with us
 One third of the world’s girls are married before the
age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15.
 In 2010, 67 million women 20-24 around the world
had been married before the age of 18.
 Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls
will become child brides, according to United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA).
 If present trends continue, 142 million girls will be
married before their 18th birthday over the next
decade.

10.  That’s an average of 14.2 million girls annually
will marry under the age of 18 year.
 That’s around …
1,166,666 a month
269230 a week
38,461 a day
27 every minute
Or, around one girl every two seconds
 Furthermore, of the 142 million girls who will
marry before they are 18, 50 million will be under
the age of 15.

11.  In countries like Niger, Chad, Mali,
Bangladesh, Guinea and the Central African
Republic (CAR), the rate of early and forced
marriage is 60 per cent and over.
 Child brides are particularly prevalent in South
Asia (46 per cent) and in sub-Saharan Africa
(38 per cent).
 While countries with the highest prevalence of
child marriage are concentrated in Western and
Sub-Saharan Africa, due to population size, the
largest number of child brides reside in South
Asia.

14.  Nepal is one of the ten countries to have high
child marriage prevalence.
 Nepal holds 8th position among the countries
worldwide to have high prevalence of child
marriage, as reported by 'The Status of the
World's Children-2011, UNICEF

16.  According to the report, African countries are in
the front run to have high child marriage
prevalence where Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh,
Guinea, Central African Republic, Mozambique
and Nepal runs from first position to the eight
spontaneously.
 Similarly, excerpting the findings from Nepal
Health Demographic Survey (NDHS-2011), the
event highlighted that 55 percent women aged 25-
49 were married by the age of 18 in 2011 making
the country second highest after Bangladesh
where it is 66 per cent.

17.  Nepal census 2011 shows an overwhelming
progress in literacy, the rate of which rose to 65.9
percent from the 57.4 in 2001.
 However, the marriage status still paints a gloomy
picture.
 Among women age 25-49, 55 percent were
married by age 18, and 74 percent were married
by age 20.
 Median age at marriage for women and men are
17.5 and 21.6 respectively.
Source : NDHS 2011

18.  As per the UNICEF report 2011 with 51
percent of Nepali girls marrying before 18,
Nepal stands second among the top 10
countries in the world in terms of child
marriage prevalence, a report says.

20. The causes of early and forced marriage are
complex, interrelated and dependent on
individual circumstances and context. But the
practice is driven by these main factors:
Poverty-
 In families on a low income, girls may be
viewed as an economic burden.
 The perception of girls’ potential to earn an
income as comparatively poor pushes girls out
of their homes and into marriage.

21.  Girls living in poor households are almost twice
as likely to marry before 18 than girls in higher
income households.
 More than half of the girls in Bangladesh, Mali,
Mozambique and Niger are married before age
18. In these same countries, more than 75
percent of people live on less than $2 a day.

22. Gender inequality –
• women and girls
often occupy a lower
status in societies as a
result of social and
cultural traditions,
attitudes, beliefs that
deny them their rights
and stifle their ability
to play an equal role in
their homes and
communities

23. Lack of Education-
 Girls with higher levels of schooling are less
likely to marry as children. In Mozambique,
some 60 percent of girls with no education are
married by 18, compared to 10 percent of girls
with secondary schooling and less than one
percent of girls with higher education.
 Educating adolescent girls has been a critical
factor in increasing the age of marriage in a
number of developing countries, including
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

24. Negative traditional or religious practices –
 Dowry system
 in many countries the importance of preserving
family ‘honour’ and girls’ virginity is such that
parents push their daughters into marriage well
before they are ready.
 There is a belief that marriage safeguards
against ‘immoral’ or ‘inappropriate behavior.’
 Some people in Ethiopia’s Amhara region
believe that menstruation is induced by
intercourse.

25.  Some also fear that if girls receive an
education, they will be less willing to fulfill
their traditional roles as wife and mother.
 In some cultures, child marriage is encouraged
to increase the number of pregnancies and
ensure enough children survive into adulthood
to work on family land and support elderly
relatives.
Failure to enforce laws
 sometimes families are not even aware they are
breaking the law.
 In some countries early marriage is so
prevalent, prosecutions are seldom brought.

26. Conflicts, disasters and emergencies
 disasters and emergencies increase economic
pressures on households and many families
that wouldn’t previously have considered early
marriage turn to it as a last resort.

27. Trafficking: Poor families
are tempted to sell their girls
not just into marriage, but
into prostitution, as the
transaction enables large
sums of money to change
hands.
 Some families use marriage
to build and strengthen
alliances, to seal property
deals, settle disputes or pay
off debts.

28. Physical consequences
 Child brides are likely to become pregnant at an
early age and there is a strong correlation between
the age of a mother and maternal mortality.
 Fertility among women ages 15 to 19 years is 81
per 1000.
 Girls ages l0-14 are five times more likely to die in
pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20-24
and girls aged 15-19 are twice as likely to die.

29.  Teenage marriage makes girls far more vulnerable
to the profound health risks of early pregnancy and
childbirth – just as their babies are more
vulnerable to complications associated with
premature labor.
 According to the UN, complications from
pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of
death for girls aged 15-19 years in developing
countries.
 Of the 16 million adolescent girls who give birth
every year, about 90% are already married.
UNICEF estimates some 50 000 die, almost all in
low and middle-income countries.

30.  Still births and newborn deaths are 50% higher
among mothers under 20 than in women who
get pregnant in their 20s.
 In many poor countries, most young girls,
regardless of age, are forced to demonstrate
their fertility once they are married.
 These children, because that’s what they are,
are discouraged from using contraceptives or
might have to ask their husbands’ permission,
or they have no knowledge of or access to what
they need.

31. Effects on Health
Girls ages l0-14 are five times more likely
to die in pregnancy or childbirth than
women aged 20-24 and girls aged 15-19 are
twice as likely to die.
Child brides face a higher risk of
contracting HIV because they often marry
an older man with more sexual experience.
Girls ages 15 – 19 are 2 to 6 times more
likely to contract HIV than boys of the same
age in sub-Saharan Africa.

32.  Child marriage makes girls far more vulnerable
to the profound health risks of early pregnancy
and childbirth – just as their babies are more
vulnerable to complications associated with
premature labor.
 According to the UN, complications from
pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes
of death for girls aged 15-19 years in
developing countries.
 Of the 16 million adolescent girls who give
birth every year, about 90% are already
married. UNICEF estimates some 50 000 die,
almost all in low and middle-income countries.

33.  Still births and newborn deaths are 50% higher
among mothers under 20 than in women who
get pregnant in their 20s.
 In many poor countries, most young girls,
regardless of age, are forced to demonstrate
their fertility once they are married.
 These children, because that’s what they are,
are discouraged from using contraceptives or
might have to ask their husbands’ permission,
or they have no knowledge of or access to what
they need.

34. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS
 Child brides may also suffer vulnerability to
HIV/AIDS.
 Being young and female in Africa is a major risk
factor for infection and young girls are being
infected at a considerably disproportional rate to
that of boys.
 According to Bongaarts (2007), girls who marry
as virgins under age 18 face a distinctly elevated
HIV risk because these marriages tend to shift
girls directly from a protected state of virginity
into an unprotected (and often unwilling) state of
frequent sexual relations.

35. Violence
 Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to
experience domestic violence than their peers
who marry later. A study conducted by ICRW
in two states in India found that girls who were
married before 18 were twice as likely to report
being beaten, slapped or threatened by their
husbands than girls who married later.
 Child brides often show signs symptomatic of
sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress such as
feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and
severe depression.

36. Developmental consequences
 Child Marriage also has considerable implications
for the social development of child brides, in
terms of low levels of education, poor health and
lack of agency and personal autonomy.
 The cyclical nature of early marriage results in a
likely low level of education and life skills,
increased vulnerability to abuse and poor health,
and therefore acute poverty.

37. Psychological and social consequences
 It is a huge responsibility for a young girl to
become a wife and mother and because girls are
not adequately prepared for these roles.
 This heavy burden has a serious impact on their
psychological welfare, their perceptions of
themselves and also their relationship.

38.  Women who marry early are more likely to
suffer abuse and violence, with inevitable
psychological as well as physical
consequences.
 Young girls who marry before the age of 18
have a greater risk of becoming victims of
intimate partner violence than those who marry
at an older age. This is especially true when the
age gap between the child bride and spouse is
large.

39.  Child marriage marks an abrupt and often
violent introduction to sexual relations.
 The young girls are powerless to refuse sex
and lack the resources or legal and social
support to leave an abusive marriage.

40. Married adolescents are typified by:
 High levels of unprotected sexual relations
 Large age gaps with sexual partners
 Intense pressure to become pregnant
 Highly limited or absent peer networks
 Restricted social mobility/freedom of movement
 Little access to modern media (TV, radio,
newspapers)
 Limited education attainment and no schooling
options
Source: Haberland, Chong, Bracken, 2003.

41. 59.8
43.6
71.9
16.9 12.6
20.5
0
20
40
60
80
South and East
Africa
West and Central
Africa
Latin America and
Caribbean
Percent
Married
Unmarried
Source: Bruce and Clark,
2004.
Percent of sexually active girls aged
15-19 who had unprotected sex last
week

42. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25
Age at Marriage
MeanSpouse/PartnerAge
Difference
South America Central America/Caribbean
Middle East South Central/South East Asia
Former Soviet Asia West/Middle Africa
East/Southern Africa
Mean Spouse/Partner Age Difference,
by Woman’s Age at First Marriage
Source: Mensch, 2003

43. 42
2
14
4
20
9
0
20
40
60
80
100
Condom Use Among Girls Wishing to Avoid Pregnancy
Unmarried, Burkina Faso
Married, Burkina Faso
Unmarried, Kenya
Married, Kenya
Unarried, Zambia
Married, Zambia
Percent
Sources: Clark, 2004; Bruce and Clark, 2003.

44. Education of 15-19-year-old-girls, by marital
and parenting status
0
20
40
60
80
100
Brazil Kenya Nigeria
Percentenrolledin
school
Married -
Without children
Unmarried -
Without children
Married - With
children
Unmarried - With
children

45.  As per the Country Code 2010 (Marriage
Chapter), the legal age of marriage is 20 for
both man and woman and 18 for woman where
marriage is solemnized (formalize) with the
consent of the woman’s parents or guardians.
 The government has not bothered to stop child
marriage despite these legal provisions.
 A law banning child marriages is not enough, it
has to be coupled with efforts to make sure
girls go to school and implementation of laws
are done strictly.

46.  Child marriage and MDG are inter-linked to
each other.
 The one reason that country may miss the
gender-linked Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) of the United Nations is the
persistence of child marriage.
 While MDG 2 pushes for universal primary
education, MDG3 seeks to promote gender
equality and empower women, MDG 4, that is
concerned with reducing child mortality, MDG
5 that aims to improve maternal health.

47.  Educating and empowering girls
 Supporting young people to become activists for
change
 Mobilizing and educating communities
 Bringing men and traditional leaders on board
 Enacting and enforcing laws that set a legal
minimum age for marriage

48.  Raising awareness in the media
 Providing Youth Friendly Health Services.
 Ending teen marriage requires the consolidated
efforts of all organizations.
 Government should take a strong initiative to
implement the legal provisions and ensure a safe
environment for every woman.

49.  http://relationships.blurtit.com
 http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenager
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_marriage
 http://www.icrw.org/publications/child-
marriage-factsheets
 http://marriage.about.com/cs/teenmarriage/a/
teenmarriage.htm
 http://www.lawcommission.gov.np
 Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse,
unite for children, UNICEF
 Child Marriage: Facts, Causes and Consequences,
Discrimination, Sexual Abuse, Trafficking and Repression

50.  NEPAL: The hidden costs of early marriage,
humanitarian news and analysis, a service of the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
 Child protection from violence, exploitation and
abuse, unite for children, UNICEF
 Child Marriage: Facts, Causes and Consequences,
Discrimination, Sexual Abuse, Trafficking and
Repression
 file:///F:/mph1/child%20marriage/Child%20marriage%
20%20%20Children's%20Rights%20Portal.htm
 Child Marriage: Causes & Impacts, Alex Whiting –
WNN MDG Stories

51.  Child marriages on decline in Nepal: UN
reportSunday, 14 October 2012 11:47
 Early marriage affecting girl's education,
healthSunday, 18 November 2012 10:01
 Early and forced marriage - facts, figures and what
you can do, PLAN
 Child marriage in Nepal: A religiously promoted
practice, Laxmi Tamang
 WHO Report
 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011,
Report, MoHP, New Era, Measure, DHS, USAID
 The Muluki Ain (General Code)

52. THANK YOU
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