Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is 28 girls every minute – married off too soon, endangering their personal development and wellbeing. With more young people on our planet than ever before, child marriage is a human rights violation that we must end to achieve a fairer future for all. Child brides are often disempowered, dependent on their husbands and deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education and safety. Neither physically nor emotionally ready to become wives and mothers, child brides are at greater risk of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth, becoming infected with HIV/AIDS and suffering domestic violence. With little access to education and economic opportunities, they and their families are more likely to live in poverty. In Nigeria, 43% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday. 17% are married before they turn 15. The prevalence of child marriage varies widely from one region to another, with figures as high as 76% in the North West region and as low as 10% in the South East

1. CHILD MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA
Akinola Alalade
Youth Programme Assistant
Population Council, Nigeria

2. Outline
 Child Marriage Facts
 Child Marriage around the World
 Prevalence of Child Marriage in Nigeria
 Few report cases on Child Marriage
 Why does Child Marriage happen
 Individual rights denied by Child Marriage
 What are the consequences of Child Marriage
 Recommendations
 References

3. Child Marriage Facts
 1 in 3 girls in the developing world are said to be married before 18.
 Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is
28 girls every minute
 More than 30% of today’s women were married before their 18th
birthday.
 If there is no reduction in child marriage, an additional 1.2 billion
girls will be married by 2050.
 Some child brides are as young as eight or nine.
 Most adolescent pregnancies (90%) take place within marriage.
 Pregnancy and childbirth complications are among the leading
causes of death in girls aged 15 to 19 in low- and middle-income
countries.

4. ChildMarriagearoundtheWorld
Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 20-24 years old who were first married or in
union before they were 18 years old (UNICEF State of the World’s Children, 2015).
68%
68%
68%
65%
55%
52%
52%
52%
50%
48%
47%
45%
44%
43%
42%
41%
41%
41%
41%
41%
Niger
Central African Republic
Chad
Bangladesh
Mali
South Sudan
Burkina Faso
Guinea
Malawi
Mozambique
India
Somalia
Sierra Leone
Nigeria
Zambia
Nepal
Madagascar
Eritrea
Dominican Republic
Ethiopia
20 Countries with the Highest Rates of Child Marriage

5. ChildMarriagearoundtheWorldcont.
Women aged 20 to 24 years old who were married before they were 15, in thousands. (Vogelstein,
R, Ending Child Marriage, How elevating the status of girls advances US foreign policy objectives,
Council on Foreign Relations, 2013).
10,063
2,359
1,193
877
673
600
458
291
260
44
India
Bangladesh
Nigeria
Brazil
Ethiopia
Pakistan
Indonesia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mexico
Niger
10 Countries with the Highest Absolute Numbers of Child Marriage

6. PrevalenceofChildMarriageinNigeria
(UNICEF State of theWorld’s Children, 2015)
 The prevalence of child marriage varies widely from one region to another, with
figures as high as 76% in the North West region and as low as 10% in the South
East
% currently married
% of 20-24 year olds
married by age 15
% of 20-24 year olds
married by age 18
15-19 years
old
20-24 years old
Nationally 28% 60% 17% 43%
North West region 68% 88% 35% 76%
South East region 6% 34% 3% 10%

7. PrevalenceofChildMarriageinNigeriacont.
UNICEF 2015% UNICEF 2015%
Married by 15 Married by 18
Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 20-24 years
old who were married or in union before they were 18 years old
(UNICEF State of theWorld’sChildren, 2015)
43%17%

8. FewreportcasesonChildMarriage
Beaten: MaimunaAbdullahi, left, is pictured recently at the school in Nigeria which has taken her in
after her ordeal
 Maimuna Abdullahi was sold into marriage by her parents for £120 and abused by her new
husband.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2673817

9. FewreportcasesonChildMarriagecont.
Sani AhmedYerima, 49, paid $100,000 as dowry for the 13-year-old girl.
http://tooyoungtowed.org/blog/tag/unicef/

10. FewreportcasesonChildMarriage cont.
Nigerian court dismisses murder case against child bride
 A Nigerian court formally strikes out a case against a 15-year-old girl, WasilaTasi’u,
accused of killing her 35-year-old husband with rat poison, but paperwork holds up
her release from custody.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-10/nigerian-girl-15-acquitted-of-killing-husband-rat-poison/6533948

11. Whydoes ChildMarriagehappen
 Gender inequality/discrimination
 Poverty
 Negative traditional or religious practices
 "Protecting" the girl's sexuality
 Failure to enforce laws/inadequate law
 Conflicts, disasters and emergencies
 Trafficking

12. IndividualrightsdeniedbyChildMarriage
 The right to an education.
 The right to be protected from physical and mental violence,
injury or abuse, including sexual abuse, rape and sexual
exploitation.
 The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard
of health.
 The right to rest and leisure, and to participate freely in
cultural life.
 The right to not be separated from parents against the child's
will.
 The right to protection against all forms of exploitation
affecting any aspect of the child’s welfare.
 The right to eventual employment.

13. Whataretheconsequencesof ChildMarriage
 Domestic abuse– Child brides are often more likely
to experience domestic violence and less likely to
take action against this abuse
 Poor sexual and reproductive health- Limited access
to contraception and reproductive health services
and information,Vesico-Vagina Fistula (VVF)
 Lack of education- Greatest obstacles to girls’
education

14. Recommendations
 Develop social and economic programs for out-of-school girls,
including non-formal education programs.
 Raise the awareness of parents, community leaders, and
policymakers about the health and rights implications of
young girls marrying much older men.
 Encourage state-level authorities to adopt the federal law that
establishes 18 as the legal age of marriage for girls.
 Promoting education of girl child -Proven solutions involve
girls' schooling (especially lower secondary) and programmes
that offer life skills, literacy, health information and services,
and social support

15. Recommendationscont.
 Married girls especially need access to sexual and
reproductive health services, including family
planning and maternal health services
 Social and cultural norms change
 Using mass media to increase the awareness of the
whole community about the consequences of early
marriage on girls themselves, their family and on the
community as a whole.

16. References
 UNFPA (2012) MarryingToo Early: End Child Marriage
 UNFPA (2012) Nigeria: Child marriage country profile
 National Population Commission [Nigeria] and ICF
International (2014). Nigeria Demographic and Health
Survey 2013. Rockville, Maryland, USA: National
Population Commission and ICF International
 http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage/nigeria/
 Mapping (2013): Early Marriage inWest Africa
 Population Council (2004):Child Marriage briefing Nigeria
 UNICEF , State of theWorld’s Children (2015): Reimagine
the Future: Innovation for Every Child digital report