Changes in Prevalence of Girl Child Marriage in South Asia
Improvements in education of girls have huge contribution in reducing girl child marriage. At the same time, rural to urban migration have increased which is also another important factor in child marriage reduction. However, many schools graduate students at the 10th standard (about 15-16 years) are vulnerable to early marriage. Laws against early marriage have existed for decades, setting the legal age for girls at marriage as 18 years in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and 16 years in Pakistan, but appear inadequate to affect this issue.
Every year worldwide more than 10 million girls are affected by child marriage. Child marriage is interrelated to maternal and infant morbidities and mortality. This paper evaluated whether incidence of girl child marriage has changed over the past 2 decades in 4 South Asian nations.
Reference:
Raj, A., McDougal, L., & Rusch, M. L. (2012). Changes in prevalence of girl child marriage in South Asia. Jama, 307(19), 2027-2029.