Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Unions

Amid growing awareness of how patriarchal control of adolescent girls’ sexuality is a key driver of child marriage, still too few programmes aiming to end child marriage actually address this link in their work. The issue is considered taboo, and thus worked around or completely ignored. Unless we work to address the root causes of child marriage, this harmful practice will persist and prevent us from achieving the aims of the ICPD Programme of Action, reaching the SDGs, and realizing gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights. This session will showcase new research and the work and lessons learned of organizations from regions with high rates of this harmful practice that are working to transformnorms around gender and sexuality to advance girls’ rights and freedom.It will highlight findings from two new reports on child marriage and showcase success stories, challenges, and demands for policy-makers and donors to support adolescent girls’ rights. The event is organized by the CEFM and Sexuality Programs Working Group, comprising 12 organisations: American Jewish World Service (AJWS), CARE, CREA, Global Fund for Women, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, GreeneWorks, International Center for Research, on Women (ICRW), International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), Nirantar Trust, Plan International, Population Council and Promundo-US.