We have to put an end to child marriage and protect our children. You can start by changing your surround.

1. Protecting girls from
child marriage during
COVID-19 and
always
Dalia Q. Al-Rousan, 2021.

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Outlines:
 Definitions and Statistics.
 Children Marriage as a primary cause of Gender
BasedViolence
 Relationship between Child Marriage and Female
Genital Mutilation.
 Child Marriage in Humanitarian crises.
 Covid-19 and Child Marriage; how covid-19’s
impact on hunger and education is forcing
children into marriage.
 What children really think about Child Marriage
in Humanitarian crises?
 Policy measures taken by states.
 Recommendations and key messages
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Child Marriage:
is a well-recognized global phenomenon, which may disproportionately impact girls in
humanitarian crisis and displacement, such as armed conflict or nature disaster.
Female Genital Mutilation(FGM):
involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female
genital organs for non-medical reasons.
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Definitions
and
Statistics

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Key Facts about
FGM:
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• The practice has no health
benefits for girls and women.
• FGM can cause severe
bleeding and problems
urinating, and later cysts,
infections, as well as
complications in childbirth and
increased risk of newborn
deaths.
• FGM is mostly carried out on
young girls between infancy
and age 15.

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ChildMarriageStatistics
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FemaleGenitalMutilation
» UNFPA estimates there may be as many as 2 million
cases of female genital mutilation by 2030 that would
have otherwise been averted due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
» In 2021 alone, there are 4.16 million girls around the
world, who are at risk of undergoing female genital
mutilation.
» According to a UNFPA (pre-COVID-19) study, the cost
of preventing female genital mutilation is $95 per girl
today.
» 30 countries where female genital mutilation is
prevalent are experiencing high population growth,
with at least 30 per cent of girls undergoing female
population under the age of 15.
» Around 1 in 4 girls and women, or 52 million worldwide,
experienced female genital mutilation, performed by
health personnel pointing to an alarming trend in the
medicalization of female genital mutilation.
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7. Children Marriage as a primary
cause of Gender BasedViolence

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GBVandChildrenMarriage
» Child marriage is included in both the child protection and
gender-based violence (GBV) response
» 1 in 10 young women had experienced intimate partners
violence which considered as GBV.
» Gender Specific Connotations are as follow:
1. Girls become domestic workers of their husband’s families.
2. Girls are at risk of early pregnancy leading to maternal
mortality since their bodies are not mature enough to give
birth.
3. Baby girls are killed when only a few weeks old.
4. Girls are at higher risk of malnutrition and disease due to
inadequate feeding and care.
5. Girls have less or no access to education.
6. In some countries boys are under-achieving and dropping out
of school because they do not see its relevance in their lives.
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9. Relationship between
Child Marriage and
Female Genital Mutilation.

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In some cases, the two harmful practices are linked. For instance, a girl’s marriageability
may be tied to whether she has been cut, or FGM may be performed as a rite of passage
into womanhood and as a precursor to marriage, often in early adolescence.
However, each practice also has its own distinct drivers.
» Child marriage is more closely associated with poverty: Poorer families may choose to
marry off a daughter to relieve financial stress or in the belief that it will secure for her a
more stable future. Marriage is sometimes regarded as a viable choice when other paths
in a girl’s future are limited.
» In contrast, FGM is closely associated with identity and as a representation of shared
values. Whether or not a girl has been cut may be viewed as a marker of belonging to a
particular population group
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Introduction

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» Women in rural areas, with less education and from poorer households are more likely to
have experienced both child marriage and FGM than their richer, more educated urban
counterparts.
» This is not an unexpected finding given that each practice independently is more likely to
be found among more remote and less privileged groups.
However, in most cases, the effect is compounded across the two practices.
» In a clear illustration of the impact of multiple deprivations, in most countries the
percentage of women who experienced both practices is higher among those who are
both poor and uneducated compared to those who are either poor or uneducated.
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KeyFactsandStudiesFindings:

12. Child Marriage in Humanitarian crises:
Covid-19 and Child Marriage;
how covid-19’s impact on
hunger and education is forcing
children into marriage.

13. • 2020 saw the largest increase in child marriage
rates in 25 years.
• Between March and December 2020, child
marriages were more than doubled in many
communities compared to 2019.
Studies found the following:
1. child who experienced hunger is 60% more likely to
be married than his or her peers who did not
experience hunger.
2. A recent assessment carried out by Save the Children
in 46 countries found that COVID-19 is already
having an alarming impact on children’s lives.
3. The effects of the pandemic and related
containment measures have the potential to cause
long-lasting disruption to children’s access to health
and nutrition, education, and protection from
violence, and may result in millions of children
sliding into poverty

14. How COVID-19 Has Impacted Adolescent Refugee Girls
• Economic:Already high levels of poverty escalating. Business opportunities declining due to restrictions on
gatherings such as markets.
• Social: Significant social disruptions, including family separation through divorce, mothers abandoning
children to escape IPV, and fathers abandoning families for single women. Increased rates of anti-social
behaviour such as “theft, immorality, and hooliganism.” Parents overworking children during the lockdown with
garden work, household chores, and caring for siblings.
• Access to Education: Educational programs closed, leaving girls bored, lonely, and overworked at home and
causing fear girls will never have the opportunity to return.
• Access to Other Programs & Services:Girls afraid to access youth-friendly corners for services because of
COVID-19. Social distancing difficult at home and in critical public spaces like water sources. Sanitary products
expensive and difficult for girls to obtain as they are no longer provided by schools. Food rations in Palorinya
reduced to one meal per day.
• Mobility, Health, and Wellbeing:Acts of GBV increasing.Alcoholism increasing among youth and caregivers
(due in part to a belief that alcohol cures COVID-19).Alcoholism increasing domestic violence. Pregnancy
among girls increasing, along with (usually unsafe).

15. What children really think
about Child Marriage in
Humanitarian crises?

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Rahila’sstory(Afghanistan)
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My name is Rahila. I am 14. I had to move to another village three years ago
because of drought and insecurity.
My father has a small stall selling snacks to children. My mother is a maid. Neither
can read or write. I am studying with the hope of becoming a doctor. One
afternoon, three women came to our home who were from the same village as us. I
overheard one of the women tell my mother that they have a son and would like me
to marry him.
The boy’s family promised my father to give him US$6,400 and a piece of land as a
bride price. My father was happy.With the money, he could start a new business
and pay the rent of our house.
“I think most families either don’t know about the negative impacts of child
marriage or they have to marry off their girls because they need money.”

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Parvina’sstory(Bangladesh)
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My name is Parvina. I am 17 years old in Myanmar.
My father died when I was young. After my mother remarried, living with my
stepfather was tough. I came to Bangladesh with my uncle when I was nine
years old.
I worked for a family for four years as domestic worker.They did not pay me.
They told me they would raise me and find a husband for me.
When many Rohingya came to Bangladesh [in August 2017], I thought it
would be good to move to the refugee camp. I would be with my people.
There I met a boy from Myanmar who is four years older than me. I shared
my struggles with him. He told me, “I will live my life with you.”
I thought, if I get married, I will have peace then and I will have shelter.
I got married when I was 15-and-a-half years old and now we have a baby.
When I was pregnant, I was still a child. I did not have self confidence.
“If you want to stop early marriage, you can do one thing:You can
organise meetings and invite girls along with their parents and speak
with them.
If you speak about the effects of early marriage – the good and the bad
impacts – and how child brides suffer, maybe they will understand and
think about it before they get married.”

18. Policy measures taken by states.

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Policies in Middle East
Egypt
While Egyptian law prohibits the
registration of marriages where one
party is less than 18 years of age,
there is no minimum age of marriage
specified in law.
Child marriage is not criminalized
under Egyptian law although there
are reports that the Egyptian
Government is considering changing
the law to penalise fathers, male
guardians and officials who
facilitate child marriage.

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Recommendations:
1. Engage community leaders to change gender
norms that enable child marriage.
2. Invest in girls’ right to education.
Investments must include support for technical
education and to ensure that girls who are married
and girls who are pregnant or mothers can continue
their education and catch up on lost learning
3- Implement a gender-sensitive national COVID-19
response to address the unique ways that girls are
affected by the pandemic, including through
protections to curb drivers of child marriage like
poverty and limited access to education.

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We have to put an end to
child marriage and protect
our children. You can start
by changing your surround
..
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Thank you