GENDER AND CHILD MARRIAGE

Gender and Child Marriage: Image

Although the majority of child marriages involve girls, 18% of those married before the age of 18 are boys.

What we do know about the mental health consequences of this practice are solely focused on women and girls. We need to increase our understandings of the gendered dynamics of this practice across the world, and recognise the specific mental health risks that can emerge from these dynamics.

For example, according to a recent UNICEF report, approximately 115 million boys and men around the world were married as children, with 23 million married before the age of 15. Among young men that age, suicide remains one of the highest causes of death.

REPORTS & RESOURCES:

1. '115 million boys and men around the world married as children' (UNICEF report)

2. Understanding forced marriage in the United States: Developing measures, examining its nature, and assessing gender disparities

3. Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data'

Gender and Child Marriage: What We Do