child marriage

A 14-year-old schoolgirl in Bangladesh poses with friends and neighbors on her wedding day. A new UNESCO report looks at progress — and the lack thereof — in ending child marriage.

It'll take 300 years to wipe out child marriage at the current pace of progress

5:07pm May 03, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

UNESCO's new report on child marriages shows signs of progress. Yet each year, 12 million girls marry before they turn 18. And the pandemic, climate change and conflict has only made things worse.

Queue Listen Now

Giving a lesson at the home of a girl in Cali, Colombia, in August 2020, a teacher wears a biosecurity suit to prevent infection from the novel coronavirus. The "teacher at home" program aimed to help students stay in touch with teachers during pandemic school shutdowns.

Health & Safety

It's a bleak 'Day of the Girl' because of the pandemic. But no one's giving up hope

11:53am October 11, 2022

by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred

The United Nations established the Day of the Girl a decade ago to address issues that affect girls' rights: education, teen pregnancy, child marriage. Steady progress has been made. Then came COVID.

An Afghan woman walks with a child in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 28, 2022. A newly released report from Amnesty International, "Death in Slow Motion," focuses on a range of issues affecting girls and women. Foremost among them are child and forced marriage

Health & Safety

What it's like being a woman in Afghanistan today: 'death in slow motion'

5:40pm July 27, 2022

That's the title of a newly released report from Amnesty International, covering a range of issues affecting girls and women under Taliban rule. Foremost among them are child and forced marriage.

Married at 15, Chakraman Shreshta Balami fulfilled his dying father's wish by getting married — at age 15. He had to give up his dream of becoming a doctor. Now the vice principal of Sri Bhavani government school, he campaigns against child marriage —

Child grooms are often overlooked in the fight to stop child marriage

7:42am January 02, 2022

by Photos and text by Stephanie Sinclair

The U.N. issued its first report on the plight of child grooms. And the pandemic has only made things worse. Here's a report from Nepal, where 1 in 10 boys marry young.

Komal Rana, 19, a student in the Veerni Institute program, has faced pressure to marry since India's pandemic lockdown forced her to return home to her hamlet of Jhalamand near Jodhpur.

This Teen Is Being Pushed To Wed Because Of The Pandemic. Her School Helps Her Resist

3:26pm August 12, 2021

by Nurith Aizenman

She's one of 110 girls in a boarding program run by the Veerni Institute in India. When lockdowns hit, they were sent home to their villages, where child marriage is rampant.

Politics & Government

Lawmakers Seek To Raise Legal Age For Marriage In North Carolina

11:18am February 03, 2021

by Neal Charnoff

State lawmakers are advancing efforts to raise the legal age for marriage. North Carolina is one of two states in the country that still allow children as young as 14 to get married.

Students rehearse a poem that they will recite at an event advocating against female genital mutilation at the Imbirikani Girls High School in Kenya.

Is The Pandemic Causing A Surge In Female Genital Mutilation?

11:55am January 05, 2021

by Maria Godoy

Kenya's president pledged to stamp out the practice by 2022. But since the pandemic began, activists say more girls are being cut — and married off afterward.

Health & Safety

Child Marriages Are Up In The Pandemic. Here's How India Tries To Stop Them

4:06pm November 05, 2020

Local sources say there's been a spike in child marriage during the pandemic. A key reason: By marrying off girls early, poor families have one less mouth to feed in desperate times.

Queue Listen Now

Saleh Abbas, deputy grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, is second from the left in this photo of members of the university delegation to the African Summit on Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriages.

How A Former Child Bride Got A Fatwa Against Child Marriage

1:02pm June 26, 2019

by Susie Neilson

It happened in Senegal last week, at a conference organized by young Africans to address the issues of child marriage and female genital mutilation. Here's the story behind the fatwa.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Friday that it was implementing new guidelines to identify minors in spousal and fiancée visas.

U.S. Agency Tightens Immigration Rules To Spotlight Child Marriage

6:07pm February 15, 2019

by Sasha Ingber

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released new rules for officers to identify visa petitions in which spouses are minors. No minimum age requirement for such requests currently exists.