"She Cannot Just Sit Around Waiting to Turn Twenty" - Understanding Why Child Marriage Persists in Kenya and Zambia

“Around the world, an estimated 15 million girls are married each year before they turn 18, and UNICEF estimates that 720 million women alive today were married as children.”

The report discusses the findings of qualitative research conducted in Zambia and Kenya to better understand the drivers of child marriage in these countries in order to inform programmatic and policy actions.  As explained in the report, “Considerable research to understand the determinants of child marriage has been conducted in South Asia; however, despite increased attention to the issue in recent years, the evidence base on the experience of child marriage in diverse contexts in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. To fill this evidence gap, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), in partnership with Plan International Zambia and Kisumu Medical Education Trust (KMET), conducted this research, which sought to: 1) explore and document the contextual factors that both promote and prevent child marriage; and 2) understand the process by which adolescent girls get married.

The researchers conducted a total of 55 in-depth interviews, 16 participatory focus group discussions, and 17 key-informant interviews across the two countries and in both peri-urban and rural sites. The research team used thematic analysis to identify and organise data to meet the two study objectives.

The research generally showed that there is increased sensitisation in communities around the issue of child marriage and that people were aware of the consequences and have taken action to report cases. The study also demonstrates that “community members don’t want girls to marry early, parents don’t want girls to marry early, and girls don’t want to marry early.” So why does child marriage persist?

The findings demonstrate that the two direct precursors to child marriage in the study sites are pregnancy and school dropout, but also that both of these factors stem from the socioeconomic environment in which girls’ lives are embedded, which is characterised by economic insecurity and gender inequality (to explain these processes, the report offers a diagramme of the pathways to child marriage in these communities). For example, reasons cited for girls dropping out of school were the fact that parents devalue girls’ education, but the most frequently mentioned driver of school dropout was parents’ inability to pay school fees. Without reliable financial support for schooling, girls’ enrolment is precarious, and disruptions and delays in schooling were common. Once out of school, research respondents reported intense community pressure on girls to marry. Also, in both Kenya and Zambia, girls who were pregnant, parenting and/or married faced significant challenges to remaining in, or returning to school.  However, the research also showed that in environments where out-of-school girls have other opportunities, like pursuing vocational school or entering the workforce, school dropout in and of itself does not drive child marriage.

In relation to early pregnancy, the research found that: 1) girls in the study communities had very limited access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health, and are experiencing high rates of early pregnancy; 2) despite the contextual factors increasing girls’ risk of pregnancy, girls themselves were often blamed and expected to shoulder the full consequences of their pregnancy; and 3) because girls were expected to take sole responsibility for becoming pregnant and finding financial support for themselves while pregnant, they often left school and were married early.

Additionally, the research documented an ongoing process of social change regarding the recognition of adolescence as a distinct life stage and the related tensions involved in the negotiation of the rights and expectations of adolescents at both the familial and community level.  In the interviews and discussions in Zambia and Kenya, the tension implicit in the challenge of defining the rights and expectations of adolescents in these communities was shared in three key ways: 1) Parents and adolescents expressed relationship challenges - parents felt their children were defiant and rude, while in Kenya, a variety of participants reported that parents were contributing to girls’ marriage through a lack of emotional support and understanding; 2) Adolescents were seen as emulating their peers’ behaviours in ways that increased their risk of early pregnancy or marriage; and 3) Parents saw child rights and the associated increase in adolescents’ decision-making power as a negative change from the past, when parents exerted greater control.  The research generally showed that adults directed much responsibility toward the girls themselves. They blamed girls for dropping out of school, for having boyfriends, for getting pregnant and for getting married. They expressed helplessness and a lack of control over girls’ decisions. At the same time, girls themselves also expressed these very feelings of helplessness and a lack of control over their life choices. 

Overall, the findings from this study draw attention to the poor communication and lack of support experienced by both girls and their parents. They show that adolescent girls face tremendous barriers to achieving their aspirations and avoiding early marriage, and in many cases have very little support from their parents and community.

The report offers a set of recommendations that seek to disrupt the pathways to child marriage outlined in the report. In brief, the recommendation are:

• Improve intergenerational communication and support by parents and families - This should, for example, include programmes to assist parents in better supporting their sons and daughters as they transition into adulthood. Such programmes should involve parents in developing ways of coping with conflict and improving communication in order to develop and maintain good relationships with their children.
• Address barriers to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and family planning access - Programmes are needed in schools, in communities and for parents and guardians, to ensure that adolescents have access to correct information about sexuality, risky sexual behaviours and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education and services.
• Overcome barriers to accessing education - Free secondary education, vouchers, cash transfers, and support for transportation and essential school supplies, such as stationery, uniforms, and books can all help to overcome financial barriers to education.
• Provide opportunities for out-of-school girls to support themselves financially - alternate economic opportunities for girls could break the progression from pregnancy or school dropout to marriage by providing girls with an alternate means of supporting themselves outside their familial home, even after they have become pregnant or left school. 
• Addressing inequitable gender norms - Adolescents, their parents and their communities need gender-transformative programmes to enhance the value of girls and women. This could include open conversations about girls’ aspirations and how inequitable gender norms prevent girls from reaching their goals.

In conclusion, the report states that "[W]ith greater opportunities and support from parents and communities, girls won’t be driven by circumstances into marrying early. Instead, they will be able to realize their full capabilities and increase not only their own well-being, but that of their communities and countries as well."