Champions to End Child Marriage in Africa
30 images Created 23 Jan 2016
Every 2 seconds, a girl becomes a child bride. Nowhere is that statistic more relevant than Africa, home to 15 of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage in the world.
The practice often dictates the end of a girl’s education as well as premature motherhood, making it the root of so many of the continent’s problems: poverty, gender inequality, maternal and infant mortality, sexual and domestic abuse, and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Though many countries in Africa have laws on the books prohibiting child marriage, they’re often undermined by an attachment to centuries-old traditions, a dearth of political will to enforce that legislation and a lack of understanding of the devastation child marriage can inflict on an entire community.
In an effort to educate communities about the widespread dangers associated with child marriage and encourage them to halt the practice, the African Union launched its Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa in 2014. Since then, the effort has attracted a burgeoning roster of child advocates, from government officials and religious authorities to traditional leaders and former child brides—all bent on serving as champions of change in Africa.
The practice often dictates the end of a girl’s education as well as premature motherhood, making it the root of so many of the continent’s problems: poverty, gender inequality, maternal and infant mortality, sexual and domestic abuse, and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Though many countries in Africa have laws on the books prohibiting child marriage, they’re often undermined by an attachment to centuries-old traditions, a dearth of political will to enforce that legislation and a lack of understanding of the devastation child marriage can inflict on an entire community.
In an effort to educate communities about the widespread dangers associated with child marriage and encourage them to halt the practice, the African Union launched its Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa in 2014. Since then, the effort has attracted a burgeoning roster of child advocates, from government officials and religious authorities to traditional leaders and former child brides—all bent on serving as champions of change in Africa.