Marrying Young: Limiting the Impact of a Crisis on the High Prevalence of Child Marriages in Niger

Tameshnie Deane
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Tameshnie Deane: Department of Criminal and Procedural Law, College of Law, University of South Africa, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

Laws, 2021, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: Child marriage is a harmful and discriminatory global practice, robbing millions of girls of their childhood. Global attention and momentum to end early marriage has increased over the years; however, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected this progress. It has been predicted that over the next decade up to 10–13 million more girls will be at risk of child marriage because of the pandemic. Since Niger has consistently had the highest rate of child marriage in the world, this study will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child marriages within the west and African region but specifically within Niger. This article will look at past response efforts to other pandemics, specifically Ebola, and show how the girl-child remains disproportionately disadvantaged, especially during pandemics. The article will conclude with recommendations on the importance of incorporating a gender analysis into preparedness and response efforts to eliminate child marriages.

Keywords: child marriage; child marriage in Niger; child marriage and development goals; COVID-19 and child marriage; impact of child marriages; impact of pandemics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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