Women's Education Helps Avert Child Marriage
Around 2.9 million girls are married by the age of 15 in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, equivalent to one in eight girls in each region, according to estimates in the 2013-14 EFA Global Monitoring Report. If present trends continue, 142 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday over the next decade. That’s an average of 14.2 million girls each year. These shocking statistics mean millions of girls are robbed of their childhood and denied an education.
Studies show that education empowers women to overcome discrimination. Girls and women who are educated have greater awareness about their rights and have confidence to make decisions about their lives.
Studies show that girls with higher levels of schooling are less likely to marry as children. In Mozambique, some 60 percent of girls with no education are married by 18, compared to 10 percent of girls with secondary schooling and less than one percent of girls with higher education. Educating adolescent girls has been a critical factor in increasing the age of marriage in a number of developing countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. If all girls completed primary school in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, the number of girls getting married by age 15 would fall by 14%; with secondary education, 64% fewer girls would get married.
a Girl Summit was held in London, aimed at rallying efforts to end female genital mutilation and child marriage. Those engaged in combating early marriage and FGM should take note of the links between literacy and child marriage. The evidence is too strong to ignore: While just 8% of literate girls are married by age 15 in South and West Asia, for example, almost one in four who are not literate are married by this age.
ProLiteracy has been supporting programs educating women and girls through our Women in Literacy Initiative since 1992. Our partner in Afghanistan, The Roqia Center has been educating men and women through a unique program that requires husbands to bring their wives to the literacy classes and brothers to bring their sisters. Men are not allowed to attend alone; they must bring a family member who is a woman. In this way women and girls are gaining an education as well and placed on the same learning level as men. Our long-standing partners in Egypt, Yuvaparivartan and Laubach Literacy Education Trust also work in remote villages offering literacy classes to women and girls. The literacy class becomes a safe place to talk about cultural issues like child marriage, domestic abuse due to dowry, and other sensitive topics that might never be discussed openly.
To learn more about the work ProLiteracy does to help women and girls, click here.
Click here to learn more about how you can help take a stand against child marriage!
Studies show that education empowers women to overcome discrimination. Girls and women who are educated have greater awareness about their rights and have confidence to make decisions about their lives.
Studies show that girls with higher levels of schooling are less likely to marry as children. In Mozambique, some 60 percent of girls with no education are married by 18, compared to 10 percent of girls with secondary schooling and less than one percent of girls with higher education. Educating adolescent girls has been a critical factor in increasing the age of marriage in a number of developing countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. If all girls completed primary school in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, the number of girls getting married by age 15 would fall by 14%; with secondary education, 64% fewer girls would get married.a Girl Summit was held in London, aimed at rallying efforts to end female genital mutilation and child marriage. Those engaged in combating early marriage and FGM should take note of the links between literacy and child marriage. The evidence is too strong to ignore: While just 8% of literate girls are married by age 15 in South and West Asia, for example, almost one in four who are not literate are married by this age.
ProLiteracy has been supporting programs educating women and girls through our Women in Literacy Initiative since 1992. Our partner in Afghanistan, The Roqia Center has been educating men and women through a unique program that requires husbands to bring their wives to the literacy classes and brothers to bring their sisters. Men are not allowed to attend alone; they must bring a family member who is a woman. In this way women and girls are gaining an education as well and placed on the same learning level as men. Our long-standing partners in Egypt, Yuvaparivartan and Laubach Literacy Education Trust also work in remote villages offering literacy classes to women and girls. The literacy class becomes a safe place to talk about cultural issues like child marriage, domestic abuse due to dowry, and other sensitive topics that might never be discussed openly.
To learn more about the work ProLiteracy does to help women and girls, click here.
Click here to learn more about how you can help take a stand against child marriage!
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