Ending Child Marriage, Improving Girls’ Health and Well-Being: Evidence and Insights from Exemplars
Across Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Exemplar countries, fewer adolescent girls are marrying and giving birth before 18, and maternal and child deaths are decreasing. Each Exemplar country took decisive action to increase the legal age of marriage, strengthen rights-based policies, and engage communities to shift social norms.
Legal reforms and adolescent fertility
Research brief
Every year, an estimated 12 million girls are married before the age of 18, putting them at greater risk of leaving school early, experiencing domestic abuse, economic hardship, and the serious health consequences of early pregnancy. Findings from ASRHR Exemplars research show that where child marriage declines, so do adolescent birth rates and maternal and newborn deaths.
Exemplar countries raised the legal age of marriage, strengthened legislation around gender equality and children's rights, and worked with communities to shift the social norms that sustain early marriage. They also invested in turning those laws into effective practices by establishing dedicated budget lines, building data systems to track enforcement gaps, and ensuring legal processes were sensitive to the needs of children.
A youth advocate in Nepal shares how these initiatives have had an impact:
"Children have come to understand the potential consequences of child marriage, such as deprivation from their future careers and educational opportunities. Schools have been instrumental in imparting knowledge about the legal age of marriage set at 20 years, as well as the legal and health consequences of child marriage.”
Youth Advocate, Nepal, Key informant
The experiences of ASRHR Exemplar countries show that progress is achievable and offer decision-makers a pathway to identify and adapt effective strategies to their own contexts.