HIV This Week

Nour NM. Health consequences of child marriage in Africa. Emerg Infect Dis 2006;12:1644-9.

Despite international agreements and national laws, marriage of girls <18 years of age is common worldwide and affects millions. Child marriage is a human rights violation that prevents girls from obtaining an education, enjoying optimal health, bonding with others their own age, maturing, and ultimately choosing their own life partners. Child marriage is driven by poverty and has many effects on girls’ health: increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, malaria, death during childbirth, and obstetric fistulas. Girls’ offspring are at increased risk for premature birth and death as neonates, infants, or children. To stop child marriage, policies and programs must educate communities, raise awareness, engage local and religious leaders, involve parents, and empower girls through education and employment.

Editors’ note : Adolescent marriage has also been shown to be associated with higher HIV prevalence than that among adolescent sexually active unmarried girls of the same age in some settings. Adolescent marriage is a human rights violation which can also be a driver of the HIV epidemic. For more information, please see ‘Change, Choice and Power: Young women, livelihoods, and HIV prevention: literature review and case study analysis’ by Stephanie Urdang, published by IPPF, UNFPA, and Young Positives. See http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002347/Young_women_HIV.pdf