Ending Child Marriage: Evidence Hub - Save the Children’s Resource Centre

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Ending Child Marriage: Evidence HubShare:
By: Save the Childrens Resource Centre
Last updated: 2025-02-10T10:25:22
Child, early, forced marriage and unions are a violation of human rights that disproportionately affects adolescent girls. Child marriage is a form and cause of gender-based violence that has profound and life-changing impacts on children, their families and subsequent generations.

Married girls are denied the freedom to make critical decisions about their own lives. They are disproportionately at risk of an early end to their education, social isolation, ongoing exposure to violence and the risks of death and disability associated with adolescent pregnancy.
Around 12 million girls are married every year, 2 million before their 15th birthday. 

As a child rights organisation dedicated to ensuring all children have an equal opportunity to survive, learn, and live free from violence, Save the Children recognises that urgent action is required to prevent and respond to child, early, forced marriage and unions around the world.

 Save the Children is committed to advocating for and with girls, supporting child participation and researching best practice on what works to end child marriage. Take a look at our resources on our Ending Child Marriage Evidence Hub.
New Research, Tools and GuidanceNew Research, Tools and Guidance
1 resource
Child Marriage in Humanitarian Crises: Girls and parents speak out on risk and protective factors, decision-making, and solutions2021 · Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley
Child Marriage is a well-recognized global phenomenon, which may disproportionately im­pact girls in humanitarian crisis and displacement, such as armed conflict or nature... View Full Abstract
pdf (16.6 MiB)
Child Marriage Action Research Series
2 resources
Toward an End to Child Marriage: Lessons from research and practice in development and humanitarian sectors2018 · Save the Children International
While child marriage has been on the decline recent decades, there is a growing concern for its increased prevalence in crisis situations during conflict and natural disasters. The... View Full Abstract
pdf (8.7 MiB)
Child Marriage in Humanitarian Crises: Girls and parents speak out on risk and protective factors, decision-making, and solutions2021 · Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley
Child Marriage is a well-recognized global phenomenon, which may disproportionately im­pact girls in humanitarian crisis and displacement, such as armed conflict or nature... View Full Abstract
pdf (16.6 MiB)
Global Girlhood Reports
2 resources
Global Girlhood Report 2021: Girls’ Rights in Crisis2021
From its outset, the COVID-19 pandemic was more than a devastating global health emergency. Crises—including climate change-driven disasters, past epidemics such as Ebola and Zika... View Full Abstract
PDF (1.4 MiB)
The Global Girlhood Report 2020: How COVID-19 is putting progress in peril2020 · Save the Children International
2020 was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for women and girls. The year when governments, businesses, organisations, and individuals came together to develop a... View Full Abstract
pdf (3.4 MiB)
National and Regional Reports
4 resources
State of the Nigerian Girl: An incisive diagnosis of child marriage in Nigeria2021 · Save the Children International
This report confirms our previous analysis that child marriage is both a cause and result of poor education of girls in Nigeria, with 10+ million out-of-school children in the... View Full Abstract
pdf (4.6 MiB)
Pan-African Girlhood Report 2020: How COVID-19 is putting progress in peril2020 · Save the Children International
In Africa, the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (known as ‘the Maputo Protocol’) was adopted on 11 July 2003 to ensure and advance African Women’s... View Full Abstract
pdf (16.7 MiB)
Married by Exception: Child marriage policies in the Middle East and North Africa2021 · Save the Children International
Legal and policy measures that prevent and prohibit child marriage are a key approach &nbsp;to protecting girls from being married before they are ready. To better understand how... View Full Abstract
pdf (9.5 MiB)
Ending Child Marriage in West Africa: Enhancing policy implementation and budgeting, Sierra Leone and Niger2020 · Save the Children International
This budget analysis report was created to assess progress on policy implementation and funding for ending child marriage (ECM) in two West African countries, Niger and Sierra... View Full Abstract
pdf (2.6 MiB)
Briefs
9 resources
Spotlight Series: Ending child marriage for gender equality2021 · Save the Children International
Gender-based violence against girls: Ending child marriage and accelerating progress for gender equalitySave the Children’s Spotlight series is a collection of country briefings to... View Full Abstract
PDF (736.2 KiB)
Lead Like a Girl: Ensuring adolescent girls’ meaningful participation in decision-making processes2021 · Save the Children International
Adolescent girls have the right to participate in decision-making for matters that affect their lives and their communities, and nearly every country in the world has committed to... View Full Abstract
pdf (274.5 KiB)
Ending Child Marriage: Child marriage laws and their limitations2017 · Save the Children International
While many legal restrictions have been employed to address child marriage globally, as many as 7.5 million girls are married illegally each year. This has a profound impact on the... View Full Abstract
pdf (2.5 MiB)
Experiences of Early Pregnancy among Displaced Female Youth in South Sudan2022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper follows the lives of displaced female youth in South Sudan that had unintended pregnancies under the age of 18. This paper explores the circumstances leading to... View Full Abstract
PDF (482.5 KiB)
Life after Marriage: An analysis of the experiences of conflict-affected female youth who married under age 18 in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq2022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper examines the experiences of life after marriage for female youth who married under the age of 18 in South Sudan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This paper... View Full Abstract
PDF (932.3 KiB)
Perspectives on Early Marriage: The voices of female youth in Iraqi Kurdistan and South Sudan who married under age 182022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper focuses on the decision-making processes that led displaced female youth to marry as minors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and South Sudan, based on the actual... View Full Abstract
PDF (1.3 MiB)
Circumscribed Lives: Separated, divorced, and widowed female youth in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq2022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper follows the lives of female youth that married as minors and later became separated, divorced or widowed. Authors  underscore the unique vulnerabilities and... View Full Abstract
PDF (989.1 KiB)
The Cost of Being Female: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) of displaced female youth in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq2022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper outlines the general situation of displaced female youth—unmarried, married, divorced, and widowed from a mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) lens.... View Full Abstract
PDF (998.0 KiB)
“Education is Like Light. The Opposite is Darkness.”: Education and female youth in displacement in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq2022 · Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
This briefing paper analyses education for female youth in the context of displacement, particularly the influence of gender norms, community perceptions, and family attitudes on... View Full Abstract
PDF (423.7 KiB)