Child Marriage in Nigeria
Girls at a school in Sokoto state, Nigeria. Photograph: Martin Godwin
In Nigeria, girls face discrimination based on their gender. Girls are married off at alarming ages due majorly to poverty, religious isolation, and, of course, illiteracy of both the parents and the girl child herself. The legal age of consent to sexual activity in Nigeria is 11 years of age. Girl child marriage interferes with their education and the acquisition of skills needed to access educational opportunity, food, and nutrition. Various studies have shown that rapid human and economic development depends on eliminating gender bias. Therefore gendered social norms and beliefs on the value of girl children must be changed.
In Nigeria, child marriage happens to girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 17 who were married before they were 18 years old. According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the third highest confirmed number of child brides globally, 3,538,000, and the 11th highest common child marriage cases globally.
Child marriage occurs mostly in the North-western and North-Eastern parts of the country. In Nigeria, especially in the northern region, among the Hausa ethnic group, the girl child is seen as inferior; the girl child is not given equal treatment as their male counterparts. It is regarded as a waste of time and resources to send the girl child to school since she would finally end up in her husband's house with the kitchen her permanent office.
Many girls today do not have adequate education. When a girl is 12-14, the community's elders feel she is "ripe for marriage," and their words are LAW. So, what are her words worth when the elders in the community have spoken? In 2013, the government stated that efforts had been made to sensitize states about the Child Rights Act to improve enforcement. However, this is not enough!
A girl who is forced into marriage is placed at very high risk at a very tender age. When a girl is forced into marriage, to a man who is old enough to be her grandfather, her right as a human has been abused. She has also been deprived of her right to education and will be doomed to be an illiterate forever if her husband does not allow her to continue her education. Furthermore, child brides are neither physically nor emotionally ready to give birth; therefore, they face higher death risks in childbirth and are particularly vulnerable to pregnancy-related injuries such as obstetric fistula.
One of the major factors responsible for child marriage in Nigeria is illiteracy. Most Nigerian women without formal education are forced into marriage before 18 years of age, compared to those with higher education. Another driving factor is poverty as some parents who cannot afford to send their girl child to school view child marriage as a way to relieve household poverty. Religion is also used by parents with the erroneous belief that their religion supports it and that it's not wrong.
To end child marriage in Nigeria, the government should prosecute parents who give out their underaged child in marriage. This will reduce the incidence of child marriage in the country. Parents in communities where early child marriage is common should be educated and enlightened on the dangerous health implication of forcing a girl child whose body is not matured enough to carry a pregnancy into early marriage. They should also be empowered to make it less tempting to give their underaged daughters out in marriage. The government and other NGOs involved in eradicating child marriage should find a way of working directly with the girls at risk of getting married at an early age. Awareness raising and services to support girls at risk of child, early and forced marriage need to be implemented and funded by the government.
The author: Nike Erimiieleagbon - YWCA GB Volunteer. Nike is a Ph.D. student in education at the University of East Anglia. She currently lives and schools in the U.K. and was previously State Secretary (Delta State) of the YWCA of Nigeria and was heavily involved in YWCA programmes for girls and young women across Nigeria.
