Day of the Girl: One in three girls married before 18, UN warns

One in three girls married before 18, UN warns - Telegraph

This is Tehani. She got married when she was six, some 19 years younger than her husband.

The young wife poses for a portrait photo with her 25 year-old husband in her home town Hajjah, in northwestern Yemen. Two years later, aged eight, she recalls: "Whenever I saw him, I hid. I hated to see him."

Her story is one of thousands being told in a new report published by the United Nations on Thursday, to mark the UN Day of the Girl. The report, Marrying Too Young, End Child Marriage, makes it clear that despite near-universal commitments to end child marriage, the practice remains rampant.

If nothing changes, developing countries will witness an increase in child marriage, the report predicts. Between now and 2020, there will be 142m child marriages and 151m in the subsequent decade, it warns.

The figures are already bleak. One in three girls in developing countries, excluding China, will probably be married before they are 18. One in nine will be married before their 15th birthday, the study reveals.

Most of these girls are poor, less-educated and living in rural areas, the UN says. With the right education and information, young girls in developing countries can avoid the pitfalls of child marriage - but they need urgent support.
"Girls need, education, health, social and livelihood skills to become fully empowered citizens. Most immediately important is helping already married girls to avoid early pregnancy and when pregnant have access to appropriate care during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, including access to family planning," the report said.
Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund, which works to promote and protect the human rights of girls, said: "Child marriage is a human rights abuse. It constitutes a grave threat to young girls’ lives, health and future prospects.