Ethiopia gender survey: A study in seven regions

Delaying early marriage among disadvantaged rural girls in Amhara, Ethiopia, through social support, education, and community awareness

“…In the rural Amhara region, 50 percent of girls are married by age 15 and 80 percent are married by age 18 (Erulkar et al 2010). Child marriage or early marriage, defined as marriage before the age of 18, is considered a violation according to many international and national standards, and is illegal in Ethiopia.…”

Supporting married girls: Calling attention to a neglected group

“…In 2004, the Amhara Regional Bureau of Youth and Sports and the Population Council implemented a pilot project in Mosebo, a rural village in Ethiopia's Amhara region, to address the high level of child marriage in this area. In Amhara, 50% of girls are married by age 15 and 80% are married by age 18 (Erulkar et al 2010). This pilot project developed into Berhane Hewan ("Light for Eve" in Amharic), a program targeting married and unmarried girls aged 10-19.…”

‘The School Was Closed, So When They Brought Me A Husband I Couldn’t Say No’: Exploring the Gendered Experiences of Child Marriage Amongst Adolescent Girls and Boys in Ethiopia

“…National averages also mask significant variation by gender: on average, 40.3% of girls are married before age 18, but just 1.7% of boys (Gaston et al 2019). However, disaggregated data show considerable regional variation amongst rates of married boys; Muthengi Karei and Erulkar (2010) use Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data to estimate that up to 18% of boys in Amhara were married before age 18. 3 This article explores the gendered experiences of child marriage amongst adolescent girls and boys in Ethiopia, focusing on the contrasting drivers of adolescentinitiated and parent-arranged child marriage to understand how the context-specific interplay of economic factors and discriminatory gender norms affects girls and boys differently.…”