Knowra Child marriage Child marriage Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union in which at least one party is under 18 years old. It is associated with constrained choice and heightened risks to health, education, and safety.
Minimum age of marriage : The youngest age at which a person may legally marry under a jurisdiction's law. Legal age thresholds determine whether a marriage involving a child is prohibited, permitted, or subject to exceptions.
Child pregnancy : Pregnancy occurring in a person younger than 18. Early marriage can expose girls to pregnancy before their bodies and social circumstances are prepared for it.
Sustainable Development Goal 5 : A United Nations goal to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Its target 5.3 calls for eliminating child, early, and forced marriage by 2030.
Child marriage in Niger : The practice and prevalence of marriage before age 18 in Niger. Niger has had among the world's highest recorded proportions of women married before 18.
Parental consent : Authorization by a parent or guardian for an action or decision involving a child. Consent requirements can enable underage marriage even where the general legal marriage age is higher.
Maternal mortality : The death of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, or within a defined period after pregnancy ends. Pregnancy at young ages is associated with elevated risks of severe maternal health outcomes.
Convention on the Rights of the Child : A United Nations treaty setting out civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for people under 18. Its protections against harmful practices and its child definition inform efforts to end child marriage.
Child marriage in India : The practice and prevalence of marriage before age 18 in India. India's large population means it accounts for a substantial share of the world's child brides.
Bride price : Money or property transferred by a groom's family to a bride's family in some marriage customs. In some settings, payments linked to marriage can encourage families to arrange a daughter's early marriage.
Childbirth fistula : An abnormal opening between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, often caused by prolonged obstructed labor. Girls married and pregnant young may face greater exposure to obstructed labor and its lasting harms.
Show all 23