Is Ending Child Marriage Possible?

Child marriage is culturally complex, but the latest statistics show that ending child marriage is possible. According to UNICEF’s statistics, as many as 25 million underage marriages have been prevented in the last decade.1 Plus, studies like the one co-authored by MIT economist Esther Duflo show that even having a positive role model like a female politician or leader can completely erase the gender gap in terms of education, expectation of parents for their children regardless of gender and the aspiration of the girls themselves.2

The MIT study shows that a positive female influence on the child, their family and the community can significantly change the cultural attitude towards women and children. At the heart of a large proportion of underage marriage for girls is the devaluing of the gender in nearly every area of life. Shifting this perspective is essential to the overall issues surrounding a family’s decision to arrange marriage for their little girl.

Many areas of a girl’s life need to be addressed to help prevent underage marriage, such as poverty, literacy, health and community support. Finding solutions that address as many of these areas as possible will have the greatest lifting effect for her life and for other girls in her village. Targeting just one of these can help, but it may not have the overall push upward that girls desperately need to escape marriage before they are 18.

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