early marriages#59

United Nations International Children’s Fund [UNICEF] (2005), describes early marriage as both formal marriage and informal unions in which a girl
lives with a partner as if married before the age of 18. It can also be defined as any marriage carried out below the age of 18 years; before the girl isphysically, physiologically, and psychologically ready for the responsibilities of marriage and child bearing. In most cases, it is always a young girl married
to a matured man. Sometimes, the man can be twice her age. Child marriage is seen as a fundamental violation of human rights (UNICEF, 2014). Child
marriage also means increased health risks for young girls .

Parents may genuinely feel that their daughters will be advantaged by having a male figure that protects and provides for them. They might feel the need for their daughters to get married early and have an edge over their mates but, the incidence of child marriages pose a huge problem to the girl child physiologically and psychologically. Therefore there is need for appropriate measures to be taken to drastically reduce the incidence of early marriage
and its resultant early child bearing which may lead to negative health consequences, social and economic backwardness.