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Harmful Consequences of Early Marriage for GirlsOver 100 million girls worldwide under the age of 18 will be married in the next decade if the current pattern of child marriage continues, according to research presented in Washington, DC at the Global Health Council's 31st annual conference, which focused this year on youth health. More than 51 million girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 19 are currently married. In Amhara, Ethiopia, and Kayes, Mali, the average median age of women at marriage is 15 and in Rajasthan, India, and parts of Bangladesh, the age is 16, according to the Population Council. For young girls, marriage typically leads to the end of their education, social isolation from peer networks and modern media, risky pregnancies that can lead to permanent disabilities and increased vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Most child brides are married by obligation and do not choose their partners. Rather, their marriages are arranged by their parents and by community elders. Though many countries have set 18 as the minimum legal age to marry, many nations do not differentiate between legal and customary marriage. Parents who wed their daughters at an early age are sometimes misguided by the idea of "safe spouses", a false assumption that they are guarding and protecting their daughters from health risks by ensuring a monogamous relationship for them, said Judith Bruce, programme director for gender, family and development of the Population Council. "Marriage is not a safety zone. In fact, it can be just the opposite," she said. These unions are often unsafe because young married girls cannot benefit from conventional approaches to HIV protection like abstinence or reduced sexual frequency. They are more likely to have unprotected sexual relations than unmarried girls who are sexually active because they are unable to negotiate condom use due to the subservient role they play as a child bride. While the young girl is likely to maintain a monogamous relationship with her older husband, it is likely that he has a high frequency of unprotected sex with different partners including other wives. |