Whatever happened to the U.S. campaign to ban child marriage?
Global efforts to end child marriage by 2030 face significant challenges despite new legislative pushes in the U.S. and international resolutions. While many countries have passed laws banning the practice, enforcement remains inconsistent, and cultural factors continue to drive high rates of child marriage.
Why it matters
It underscores the gap between international policy goals and the reality of human rights violations affecting millions of children worldwide.
Our team of global health reporters has covered child marriage –- when one partner is under age 18. The United Nations calls it a "human rights violation," citing a litany of concerns for child brides: "early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupting her schooling, limiting her opportunities for career and vocational advancement and placing her at risk of domestic violence." Yet every year, the U.N. estimates that 12 million girls become child brides.
Child grooms, the U.N. further notes, may be forced into "an adult role for which they are unprepared," with pressure to drop out of school and support a family.
The U.N. has set the goal of ending child marriage by the year 2030.
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