ICRW's Work on Child Marriage

During 15 years of research and program experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, ICRW has learned that even when child marriage is common, girls and parents often wish to delay marriage.

Our research in Nepal shows, for example, that adolescent girls envision waiting to marry until they are 22 or 23; yet the average age of marriage there is 16.

ICRW works with partners to reconcile this, and the many other contradictions borne of the complexity of the child marriage issue by:

• Ensuring that girls have opportunities to develop their own goals and the time and space they need to fully develop as an individual before becoming part of a union.
• Taking measures to equip girls with the skills, maturity, and knowledge they need to build the foundation for a happy and healthy marriage in their future.
• Working not just with adolescent girls, but also with boys, parents, and other adults to design and carry out activities to improve their lives.

One ICRW partner, the Institute for Health Management-Pachod (IHMP), is carrying out a Life Skills Program that has successfully delayed the age of marriage among adolescent girls in Maharashtra, India by building their skills and self-confidence. Courses covering topics such as legal rights; health, nutrition and hygiene; and civic education are taught for one hour on weekday evenings for a one-year period, totaling 225 sessions.

The program is trying to reach unmarried adolescent girls ages 12-18 years, with a focus on out-of-school and working adolescents. Parents are involved in curriculum design, and the classes are taught in villages throughout Maharashtra by local women with at least a 7th grade education who have received special training in conducting the sessions.

Child marriage is a problem that can not be solved in isolation. Child marriage stems from a complex set of power imbalances between women and men, which reflect widespread social norms. Thus, it can only be fully understood by talking to adolescent girls and boys, their families, and their communities. They can tell us the full story. And in these stories lie the solutions.