Early marriage does not imply that children are involved, and the term is vague because an early marriage for one society may be considered late by another. It provides information to guide the design, implementation, and monitoring of programs aimed at reducing the incidence of early marriage in amhara and all of ethiopia. Early marriage in ethiopia link community development. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern wollega. Child marriage, defined as marriage below age 18, continues to be a. Far less attention has been paid to child marriage in subsaharan africa, where prevalence rates remain high. A profile of progress in ethiopia child marriage in the global development agenda achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls target 5. The preponderance of the evidence produced historically on child marriage comes from south asia, where the vast majority of child brides live. Child marriage and infant mortality evidence from ethiopia. Ethiopia 2005 in niger, which has the highest proportion of girls aged 1519 currently in union 60 per cent, a girl in. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls girls in many resourcepoor countries often have little choice about whom or when they marry.
The guide has been compiled from the programmes second year of research, which focused on social norms and social. Ending child marriage in africa human rights watch. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara, ethiopia a summary of the evidence background today, there are nearly 70 million child brides worldwide, with an estimated 142 million more destined for early marriage over the next decade. Early marriage and education save the childrens resource centre. Child marriage has been referred to as early marriage or child brides, but these terms are not optimal. In ethiopia the ages at first sexual intercourse and first marriage have been relatively low and closely concurrent. Despite being prohibited by international law, it continues to rob millions of girls under 18 around the world of their childhood. Results and insights may prove helpful in contexts outside of ethiopia as well. The interplay between community, household and child level. Early marriage contributes to a series of negative consequences both for young girls and the society in which they live. The practice of child marriage in ethiopia has shown significant. Early marriage is a violation of childrens human rights. This study deals mainly with the marriage practice among the gidda oromo, northern wollega, ethiopia.
A simple understanding of fgmc and early marriage might lead you to believe that knowledge is the problem. Determinants of early marriage among female children in sinan district, northwest ethiopia sileshi workineh 2, getiye dejenu kibretb 1, genet degu 3 1 health sciences and medical college, debremarkos university, ethiopia. Despite challenges, ending early marriage in ethiopia is. For instance, in the 1990s the national median age at first marriage for women aged 2549 was 15. Development food security activities catholic relief. The development of the child, early, and forced marriage resource guide was made possible through the generosity of the united states agency for international development usaid. Government of ethiopia and community systems respond to reduce communities and households vulnerability to shocks. The unfpaunicef global programme to accelerate action to end child marriage is being supported by canada, the european union, italy, netherlands, and the uk. It explored the knowledge and attitudes of residents towards early marriage practice.
Early marriage, marital relations and intimate partner. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern. As a result of early marriage, ethiopia has one of the highest adolescent fertility. This wicked practice of child marriage has destroyed the happiness of my life. Child marriage in south asia center for reproductive. Marriage is a countercultural act in a throwaway society. Lessons learned from selected national initiatives to end child marriage. Ethiopia marriage is becoming less frequent and that more deliveries are occurring at the health center.
Community engagement to eliminate bride price, bride abduction and early marriage in ethiopia by kemal jemal tunne, healthy unions project team leader, care field office in borana email. Both practices are widespread still, despite international and national efforts to eradicate. While it is still too early to tell the impact of these initiatives, there are some common themes emerging. Nell williams of world vision uk travelled to ethiopia to meet girls at risk of female genital mutilationcutting fgmc and their families. A and assefa tolera addis ababa university, ethiopia abstract the present paper is a descriptive study of marriage ceremonies and types of marriage among gidda oromo, northern wollega, ethiopia. However, researchers found no association between early marriage and decision making or selfefficacy. Ethiopias strategy is the oldest, launched over two years ago in. Poverty, lack of education and job opportunities and a desire to conform to the social norm were reasons given for early marriage. Researched and compiled by the refugee documentation centre of ireland on 29 august 2011. A total of 8757 women of reproductive age 1549 were analysed. October 2005 and the newly adopted criminal law of ethiopia. Addressing early marriage of young and adolescent girls.
The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child. In this blog, nell shares some of their voices and explores the links between fgmc and early marriage. Although early marriage is less prevalent than in some other areas of ethiopia, it was still reported to occur frequently. Child, early and forced marriage amplify efforts to end early marriage aeem ethiopia, amhara region problem intervention strategies establishstrengthen girls clubs and antiearly marriage committees capacity building. Whether a talaq pronounced by a wife in an adjoining country. April 2011 ethiopia has one of the highest rates of early marriage in the world, with one in two girls marrying before her 18th birthday and one in five girls marrying before the age of 15. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern wollega, ethiopia gemechu beyene tuskegee university, alabama, u. It comes between me and the thing which i prize above all others study and mental.
A recent study in india found that early marriage is associated with low involvement in the decision to marry, fewer interactions with ones spouse and elevated risk of intimate partner violence. Sussex child marriage and infant mortality 21062017 2 29. Many study respondentsgirls, parents, and officialsbelieve that marriage after the age of 15 is no longer early. Many promising programs outlined in this report show great hope for the future from the faith effect program in ethiopia. Early marriage in ethiopia overseas development institute. In the united states, researchers estimate that 40%50% of all first marriages, and 60% of second marriages, will end in divorce. For both girls and boys, early marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional. At the 65th world health assembly, representatives agreed that early marriage is a violation of the rights of. Elementary school students learn about the law in their civics classes, as well as about the health and economic consequences of early marriage. Cct members derive great satisfaction from their work helping women in their communities. Proportion of women aged 2024 in union by age 18 this map does not reflect a position by unicef on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers. Furthermore, research in ethiopia has found that adolescent females who marry before the age of 15 are at higher risk of intimate partner violence and coercive sex than those who marry between ages 1518 erulkar, 20. Patterning of child marriage in ethiopia child marriage under 18 years is outlawed in ethiopia and awareness of the law is increasing, but millions of girls remain at risk. Girls who had no education had a median age at rst marriage.
House of representatives human rights commissions human rights commission. Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital. If traditional marriages are recognised in ethiopia without the need for a civil ceremony or registration process 3. Kingdoms of east africa ethiopia the history files. Child marriages in india the red elephant foundation december 20 e 4 introduction child marriage refers to the marriage of a child younger than 18 years old,1 in accordance to article 1 of the convention on the right of the child. The findings of tilson and larsen 2000 on the impact of early marriage and childlessness on divorce in ethiopia showed that women with no education as well as those who had attended a literacy.
Early marriage and female genital cutting in ethiopia. It was prepared through the advancing the agenda of gender equality advantage idiq, the child, early, and forced marriage cefm resource guide task order. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara. The term child brides glorifies the tradition by portraying an image of joy and celebration. Dotted line represents approximately the line of control in jammu and kashmir agreed upon by india and pakistan. The criminal code of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia 2005 explicitly prohibits domestic violence, female circumcision, rape outside of marriage, abduction of women for marriage, and marriage with a minor, and outlines the penalties associated with. Ethiopias progress is strong compared to other countries in eastern and southern africa. The the causes, consequences and solutions to causes, consequences and solutions tocauses, consequences and solutions to forced forced forced child marriage child marriage child marriage in the developing worldin the developing world testimony submitted to u. Evidence from ethiopia 2 young lives policy brief 21 july 2014 child marriage is still the norm in ethiopia where the most recent national figures suggest that more than half 58% of.
According to the most recent demographic and health survey data from 2011, the median age at which ethiopian women marry is 16. This paper looks at two factors that may have an impact on the risk of divorce in ethiopia. Rural ethiopia ignores law against child brides ethiopias government is backing a series of new familyplanning policies, including a ban on marrying girls before theyre 18. According to an assessment conducted by unicef in 2005, among women ages 15 to 24, 48 percent were married before the age of 18 in south asia, 42 percent in africa, and 29 percent in latin america. International and constitutional legal standards and jurisprudence for promoting accountability and change 9 carveth martin, senior creative, and kylie holmes, designer, designed the cover and layout.
I integrated programmes targeting early cohabitation and laws increasing the legal age of marriage in most developing countries e. Determinants of early marriage among female children in. For instance, in bolivia, almost as many girls in union are using only traditional contraception 27 per cent as are using modern contraceptive methods 25 per cent. Nour, md, mph department of maternalfetal medicine, brigham and womens hospital, african womens health center, harvard medical school, boston, ma marriages in which a child under the age of 18 years is involved occur. Gidda oromo community is found in gidda kiremu district, one of the 17 districts of east wollega zone ethiopia.
I was p reg n a t, hd olk f m yus b housework, deal with inlaws, and work on. Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years. Early marriage in south wollo and east gojjam zones of the. Early marriage and its effects on girls education in rural ethiopia. In 2014, ethiopia signed a joint statement at the human rights council calling for a resolution on child marriage.
It finds that there is no statistically significant correlation between parental death and transition into marriage for both genders of subjects in the study. It is a violation of human rights in general and of girls rights in particular. Ending child marriage in africa i faced a lot of problems in marriage. As one male volunteer in adet noted, these are our mothers. Community engagement to eliminate bride price, bride. The study tests the primary hypothesis that household shocks do not have a positive and significant correlation with a childs transition into early marriage. Therefore, this study investigated early marriage in south wollo and east gojjam zones of ethiopia where its incidence is highly prevalent. In ethiopia, two in every five girls is married before the age of 18 and this practice is prevalent across all the regions. Data used were from the 1990 national family and fertility survey conducted by the government of ethiopia. Link community developments life skills and literacy for improved girls learning in. The practice of child marriage in ethiopia has shown significant decline in recent years. Doherty, noted marriage scholar and therapist 55 overview. A national law requires consenting couples to be at least 18 years old to marry.