WASHINGTON:
The outsized impact COVID-19 has had on women in some countries could result in an additional 10 million child marriages in this decade, according to a new analysis released on Monday by UNICEF.
"School closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage," said a study titled COVID-19: A Threat to Progress Against Child Marriage,released on International Women's Day .
The report warns that school closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy, and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.
That trend, if confirmed, would represent a serious retreat from recent years of progress against child marriage.
In the last 10 years, according to the study, the proportion of young women globally who were married as children had declined by 15 per cent, from nearly one in four to one in five.
That progress "is now under threat", said the study, released on International Women's Day."COVID-19 has made an already difficult situation for millions of girls even worse," said UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore.
"Shuttered schools, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty have added fuel to a fire the world was already struggling to put out."
Girls who marry in childhood, the study said, are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. They face an increased risk of early and unplanned pregnancy, and maternal complications and mortality.Isolation from family and friends can take "a heavy toll on their mental health".
"COVID-19 has made an already difficult situation for millions of girls even worse. Shuttered schools, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty have added fuel to a fire the world was already struggling to put out. But we can and we must extinguish child marriage," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore
. "International Women's Day is a key moment to remind ourselves of what these girls have to lose if we do not act urgently – their education, their health, and their futures," she commented.
Girls who marry in childhood face immediate and lifelong consequences. They are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. Child marriage increases the risk of early and unplanned pregnancy, in turn increasing the risk of maternal complications and mortality. The practice can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, taking a heavy toll on their mental health and well-being.
COVID-19 is profoundly affecting the lives of girls. Pandemic-related travel restrictions and physical distancing make it difficult for girls to access the health care, social services and community support that protect them from child marriage, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence. As schools remain closed, girls are more likely to drop out of education and not return. Job losses and increased economic insecurity may also force families to marry their daughters to ease financial burdens.
Worldwide, an estimated 650 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood, with about half of those occurring in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria. To off-set the impacts of COVID-19 and end the practice by 2030 – the target set out in the Sustainable Development Goals – progress must be significantly accelerated.
"One year into the pandemic, immediate action is needed to mitigate the toll on girls and their families," added Fore. "By reopening schools, implementing effective laws and policies, ensuring access to health and social services – including sexual and reproductive health services – and providing comprehensive social protection measures for families, we can significantly reduce a girl's risk of having her childhood stolen through child marriage."
Meantime, pandemic-related travel restrictions and physical distancing have made it harder for girls "to access the health care, social services and community support that protect them from child marriage, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence", while making it more likely that they drop out of school.
In addition, families facing economic hardship may seek to marry off their daughters to ease financial burdens.
The report estimates that 650 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood, about half of them in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India or Nigeria.
Fore called for countries to reopen schools, implement legal reforms, ensure access to health and social services while providing measures to protect families.
By doing so, she said, "we can significantly reduce a girl's risk of having her childhood stolen through child marriage".