Just Married, Just a Child: Child marriage in the Indo-Pacific region

Through a community-focused and rights-based approach, Plan International works globally to end child marriage; the Indo-Pacific region is the focus of this report. Plan defines child marriage as any marriage where either one or both spouses are children under the age of 18.

This report shows explicitly how child marriage, as a violation of human rights, leads to the breach of a number of fundamental human rights, such as:

• The right to education and play because it stops girls from going to school and reaching their full potential
• The right to live a life free from violence and discrimination
• The right to health by increasing adolescent girls’ risk of pregnancy- and birth-related illness and death.

In addition, the report provides information on the most effective tools to fight child marriage, based on international research that highlights policy, programmatic, and systemic interventions. Plan International also calls upon the Australian government to enact a range of adjustments to address the issue of child marriage in Australia and overseas.