Impact of Child Marriage: when the Mother is a Child
Social vulnerabilities heighten the risk for girl child marriage which is a global concern. Marrying off minor aged girls is a common phenomenon in rural and impoverished areas with low access to healthcare. Regional conflict and instability speed up these vulnerabilities. Gender inequity is another major reason behind child marriage. In our society, females have lower access to education and employment opportunities relative to males. Across national contexts, it is the poorest and least educated girls who are most vulnerable to child marriage. Even among girls receiving an education, early marriage appears to impede continuation of that education.
Although the practice of girl child marriage has decreased substantially over the past 20 years, it remains strikingly pervasive in some world regions, particularly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa where up to 50–70% of girls in some countries are married prior to age 18 years. According to this paper, currently, over 60 million women and girls worldwide are affected by child marriage.
Reference:
Raj, A. (2010). When the mother is a child: the impact of child marriage on the health and human rights of girls.