"It's extremely prevalent here in the United States," said Donna Pollard, the founder of Survivors' Corner, which advocates for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse and exploitation.

"My perpetrator was in a position of authority over me," Pollard told CBSN. Extreme poverty ends with you. About one in five children around the world is married, according to a new report from the United Nations Population Fund — and underage marriage is not just an issue in other countries.

Sign in to start taking action. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide ‘protection’, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a … Welcome back!

Carmen Singer. Though there has been progress there are still 22 million girls who are married right now, and more getting married every day. Girls from wealthy families in Bangladesh have been forced into marriages as children, Syrian refugee girls displaced by conflict have been married off before they were ready, American girls from Christian families have been victims of child marriage, and girls living in poverty in Myanmar have been married off to older men in China. When she was released, her mother, who she said had some mental health issues and also had been a child bride, consented to her marriage with the man when she was 16. Child marriage is a violation of human rights, but is all too common. And, without major efforts to stop child marriage worldwide, another 150 million girls are expected to be married as children by 2030, according to UNICEF. Related Stories Money plays a big part in the prevalence of child marriage in much of the world. Globally, 650 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthdays — a third even before their 15th birthdays. In southern Ethiopia, marriage is simply considered the next phase of womanhood, following FGM and menstruation. In #Jordan's Syrian refugee communities, child marriage has risen dramatically over the past five years. No matter where in the world child marriage happens, its drivers are similar — poverty, “family honor,” and conflict.

In the United States, more than 200,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2015; most were girls and more than 80% were married to an adult, according to data analyzed by Frontline. Mothers are suddenly finding themselves the head of the household for the first time, fearful of impact of the ongoing conflict and the dangers they are exposed to in refugee camps, they believe that their daughters are less likely to be physically or sexually assaulted and harassed if they are married and have the protection of a man.

Even when laws making marriage before the age of 18 illegal, as in the United States, child marriage still happens. ", There are only four states — Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey — that completely ban underage marriages. Child brides are also more likely to experience domestic violence. May 10, 2018 The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for global action to end this … In Kentucky, Pollard helped pass legislation "as protective as we felt we could make it given the current political landscape.". In some places, including India, guardianship rights over her will even be transferred to her husband. Sara Tasneem was just 15 years old when she was married off to a man 13 years older than her in a spiritual ceremony. She feels a huge sense of responsibility for her baby Raneem, but can¹t read or write nor go to school. MSNBC, Comcast NBCUniversal, and iHeart will serve as Presenting Media Partners and will air a live simulcast of the Festival on MSNBC and on iHeart Radio Stations. But before New Jersey banned child marriage once and for all last year, the state allowed an estimated 3,481 children, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, to married from 1995 and 2012, with the majority receiving parental consent to do so. It ensures that they remain dependent on others all their lives, strips them of their agency, makes them vulnerable to abuse, and can trap them in a cycle of poverty. International efforts have been supported by the national efforts of countries like Burkina Faso, Nepal, and Egypt that have all developed strategies and action plans to bolster their current efforts to end child marriage. The 2019 Global Citizen Festival in New York will be presented by Citi and Cisco and in association with our Production Partner, Live Nation. While the harsh is intended to deter parents from marrying off their daughters, advocates have also raised the question of whether or not it would be to the benefit of the children to imprison her parents. ", To learn more about child marriages, you can watch the CBSN Originals documentaries "Speaking Frankly: Child Marriage" and "Nepal | The Lost Girls. As of 2014, a third of refugee marriages in Jordan included a girl under the age of 18. In some places, child marriage is a cultural norm. Pollard, who is from Kentucky, was married to a man nearly twice her age when she was 16 years old. Child brides who have children may also be psychologically unprepared and ill-equipped to become mothers at such a young age. In an instant, she will be expected to become a woman who keeps house and raises a family, rather than play and study like the child she is. Keep updated on what they're doing to change the world.

Thanks for signing up as a global citizen. What is ballot harvesting — and should you hand your ballot to a stranger? Please contact us at contact@globalcitizen.org if you would like to re-activate your account. Daniele Selby Copyright © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. One mother in Bangladesh explained, “she knew it was wrong to marry [her daughter off] very early, but … marriage is seen as a cover of respect and protection by women. However, Tanzania’s law exempts child marriages where parental consent was given. And just a year later, at 16, she was legally wedded to him in Nevada. Most of their husbands are at least 10 years older than them, according to UNICEF. Child marriage occurs in these areas due to high levels of poverty, cultural norms, and lax, if any, laws — but it doesn’t only happen there. Because she was not an adult, she could not seek help at a domestic violence shelter or consent to her own medical treatment. Prior to the change, marriage bureau clerks had no authority to intervene even if they observed that the child did not want to get married, Pollard said. Though it is frequently a key motivator, money is not the only reason for child marriages. Unfortunately, because of the cultural emphasis on virginity, child marriage is sometimes seen as a legitimate way to protect girls in unsafe environments.

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