An interview with Girls Not Brides, a global partnership to end child marriage

Girls Not Brides, founded in 2011, works on ending child marriage, a harmful traditional and cultural practice that affects millions of girls and boys all over the world.  According to Girls Not Brides, 14 out of the 20 countries with the highest number of child marriage are in sub-Saharan Africa.  India is amongst the countries with the largest number of child brides in the world.

Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe, “Africa Regional Officer” at Girls Not Brides during Plan International’s Girls’ Education Advocacy Training Workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Can you briefly describe what is considered a child marriage and why this practice is harmful to children?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: A child marriage is defined as a practice where at least one of the spouses is under the age of 18. As per the International Convention for the Rights of the Child, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18.  For girls, an early marriage can have direct, and often negative consequences on her entire life: it stops her from going to school, impacts her ability to sustain herself, and because of early sexual activity it exposes the girl to reproductive health issues such as maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, and the shock and trauma of bearing children when she herself is still a child.  Current estimates are that about 14 million girls are affected by child marriage every year all around the world. So, this is not something that should be neglected.

Are there any differences between child marriages in Asia and those in Africa?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: There are some differences between the forms of child marriage, but it is not really Africa versus Asia.  For example, in Ethiopia, a number of child marriage cases happen through the kidnapping of a girl. In some Pakistani communities, families use the marriage of their daughter to pay off debt.  In India, many girls are married off to older men, others get married to boys who are just as young as themselves.  In some areas in West and Central Africa, a girl is promised even before she is born. Some are married to priests as families believe their daughter is getting married to god.  It is not like there is one type of global child marriage. Rather each country and region has its own local practices, which fall into the broad definition of child marriage.

Do countries better if they have laws for a minimum marriage age? What can be done to enforce the age minimum?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: A majority of countries have laws with a minimum age of marriage. It is mostly 18 years, but some countries have lower minimum age or none.  For example, Cameroon’s law says the minimum age is 15. In Yemen there is no law at all.  However, even if a country has a law it is often poorly enforced, or the customary law says something else. Often people don’t know about the law – even those who are supposed to enforce it. Or there is impunity when people break the law and they know that nothing is going to happen to them. So, why respect it? The whole situation is a bit blurry and just having a law is not the perfect solution.

There is a recent example from Senegal where  a girl was married against her will. Her family contacted one of the local non-governmental organizations which took the husband and his family to court.  However, the case was dismissed by the judge since the girl didn’t have a birth certificate which would have documented her age. Without it she could not prove that she was under age at the time of the wedding.  You don’t just need a law but a system which is rooted in the community so they understand how and why child marriages are harmful.

What role does education play in the struggle against child marriage?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: Education is the single most important preventative measure against child marriage.  Research has shown that the more education a girl receives the more empowered she is to make her own decisions, and the later she marries. Education is a preventative measure but also helps to empower girls who are married off and then need to define their role as wife, mother and homemaker.

Girls Not Brides is a partnership that includes over 250 partners. Can you tell us a bit about the programs of your partners?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: Girls not Brides partners have different approaches. Some focus on empowering girls at risk of marriage and girls already married, including through education. Others work with communities to create an environment that is supportive of social change. Tostan, for example which works in Senegal and other countries in West and Eastern Africa, engages with entire communities about human rights, including child marriage.  Some members decide to focus on improving the legal and policy context.  Our members are very creative in the way they have designed and developed projects, and there is great solidarity and cross-learning among them –  from one region to another.  However there is still is a lot to do for us to learn from their expertise, and for more systematic documentation and evaluation of their initiatives will be essential.

What are the main challenges that you see moving forward?

Françoise Kpeglo Moudouthe: I think there is a lot of data collection and analysis that still needs to be done. In many countries we don’t even have birth registrations so how will you be able to accurately say how many girls have been married at what age.  A large number of initiatives to end child marriage have existed for decades, often with great success, but on a limited scale. Right now, the timing is good as the international community is discussing and thinking about reaching the Millennium Development Goals and what hasn’t worked.  We think that child marriage was one of the main obstacles. Girls Not Brides is part of this effort, but it is not the only effort.  There are many groups that work against child marriage The Elders Group was very helpful in that respect and has been instrumental in getting people aware of the issues and helping to get people together to push this forward.

Girls Not Brides has been involved in a number of key events over the past few months including at the 3rd Annual Women Deliver Conference in Malaysia and the Global Education First Ministerial meetings which were held in Washington, DC this past April.