What you probably already know: Nujood Ali was just 9 years old when she became the first child bride in the country of Yemen to successfully get a divorce back in 2008. Her courage garnered international attention, and a year later she published a memoir recounting her experience. She quickly became a symbol of courage and bravery. Almost two decades later child marriage remains a significant human rights crisis, with about 12 million girls under the age of 18 married each year. A new analysis from the Women’s Initiative at Columbia University’s SIPA Institute of Global Politics and the Center for Global Development makes the case that child marriage, as abhorrent as it is, is also an economic concern. Lost productivity and increased health risks cost up to $175 billion annually, rising to almost $2.5 trillion by 2040.
Why it matters: The report, called “Accelerating Efforts to End Child Marriage,” notes that while child marriage has dropped over the past 25 years, progress is uneven. More than 640 million women across the world were married as children, almost one-third before the age of 15. Nearly 50% of all child brides are in South Asia (with rates highest in India and Bangladesh), though the rate is 50% less than in 2004. Sub-Saharan Africa has the second-largest number of child brides, but its global share is increasing, while in Latin America the numbers are more moderate but, unfortunately, there’s been little progress.
What it means: “My journey as a child rights activist began with the painful reality of watching my younger sister married at just 11 years old,” says Memory Banda Malawi, co-chair of the Columbia IGP Child Marriage Advisory Council. “That moment changed me forever.” The report says child marriage is a “violation of fundamental human rights,” forcing girls to forgo school, limiting economic pathways for themselves and their children. Child marriage is also linked to physical, sexual and emotional abuse, with the report noting that in Egypt, where child marriage is rampant, that 92% of women have had to endure genital mutilation or cutting.
What happens next: The report says collaboration between governments, the nonprofit sector and other groups around the world is essential to reverse course. It recommends three “critical” actions to reduce child marriage: investing in girls’ education; promoting health services to reduce adolescent pregnancy; and shifting attitudes that perpetuate the practice. “We can’t realize our economic potential without the full participation of women and girls in society,” says former first lady, Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, professor of International and Public Affairs and IGP Faculty Advisory Board Chair at Columbia SIPA. “The cost of inaction — to young girls robbed of their futures, to the communities who forfeit their brilliance, and to a shared future untouched by their passion — is far too high to ignore.”
