TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Child marriage is among those acute issues that need to be tackled, but often overlooked. The fact that there are still numerous nations enabling child marriage under the guise of child protection is a little too concerning. With their mindset, a child struggling in poverty is better off marrying someone way older to survive.

What exactly is considered child marriage? Many activists believe it is when someone is married before they turn 18. You could only imagine a child as young as 9 years old cohabitating with their peers or worse someone who is thrice older than their age.

More often than not, girls from rural areas begrudgingly follow their elders’ suggestions to marry young because they find it difficult to break free from a lifelong tradition. This will entail even more issues when young teens are pregnant as a result of the marriage. They are at more risk of death during pregnancy due to the inability of the body to develop.

Some nations, such as Iraq, have banned the practice of child marriage since 1950. Iraq's legal marriage age is 18 or so the law suggests. However, a UNICEF survey has shown that 28% of Iraqi girls are forced to marry before they turn 18.

If you are curious about how normalized child marriage worldwide may be, take a look at the countries with the highest child marriage below.

Niger

Niger is named as the country with the highest number of child marriages worldwide. Poverty is the primary driver for a family to marry their children young. Some call it a survival instinct to have a more decent life among the food shortages. Ironically, other parents are also caught marrying their daughters to wealthy men to settle debts.

Central African Republic

Similar to Niger, the practice of child marriage in the Central African Republic is mainly prompted by poverty. Additionally, there is a distinctive education gap and cultural standard between men and women. The traditional culture of the Central African Republic favors men more than women, resulting in the gap.

A common belief of taking polygamy as a social status also plays a big role in the increase in child marriage numbers. Here, multiple wives symbolize wealth. Not to mention, the polygamy law is loosely based on the wife's acknowledgment before marriage.

Chad

In Chad, 61% of the girls population are married before they turn 18. Gender inequality is once again the prime reason the practice is supported with most of them believing that women are inferior to men.

Bangladesh

According to a recent study by BRAC, 60% of families in Bangladesh are practicing child marriage with the ages of the brides ranging from 15 to 18 years old during the time of marriage. This is culturally normalized for reasons such as superstition, poverty, and economic dependency.

Mali

In rural areas of Mali, there is a notably high rate of child marriage practices. Most families marry off their daughters because they don’t have the primary resources to live a decent life.

The list of countries with the highest child marriage is dominated by poor countries that do not support economic independence for every family.

Vidya Amalia R

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