Esther is 16 years old and lives in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo is one of the least developed countries in the world.
To prevent the spread of the COVID-19, Esther's community has taken measures to close schools and lock down some public places. She is very happy currently because she can help her mother take care of the chickens at home.
But the economic impact of the epidemic is showing, especially the girls.
Esther explained: “Many parents in our community used to sell things in open-air markets. But because of the blockade, they couldn’t do anything.” "Some girls of my age can only give their bodies to older men, otherwise they will go hungry."
CHILD MARRIAGE IS A GREAT VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
An underage girl is forced to marry every every 2 seconds.
Some child marriage girls even married husbands 78 years older than them.
According to data from UNICEF in March 2020: Globally, 21% of young girls get married before the age of 18.
Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world, with 76% of Niger girls getting married before the age of 18.
Africa, South Asia, Latin America and South America are high child marriages area.
Among them, India, located in South Asia, has become the country with the largest number of child marriages in the world due to its huge population base. In 2017, the number of child marriages in India reached more than 15 million, nearly four times that of the second-ranked Bangladesh.
Note: Female child marriage rate: the percentage of women aged 20-24 who married or lived together before the age of 18; data is missing in some countries and regions.
Source: UNICEF global databases, 2020, based on Demographic
and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and other nationally representative surveys.
In the face of shocking numbers, the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF launched the "Global Joint Project on the Abolition of Child Marriage" in 2016 and are committed to ending child marriage by 2030. In 2019, with the support of UNFPA, more than 2.55 million girls worldwide received child marriage precautions or protection services.
However, it is far from enough to look at the phenomenon of child marriage with macro data alone. In the global overview, dilemmas and facts are still being concealed. People have not seen the real world of child marriage.
Hardest hit shift: from South Asia to Africa
