‘No One Should Be Terrified Like I Was!’ Exploring Drivers and Impacts of Child Marriage in Protracted Crises Among Palestinian and Syrian Refugees

Abstract

Exacerbated by 9 years of conflict and displacement, child marriage among Syrian refugees appears to be increasing, while in Gaza, the noticeable reduction in child brides over the past two decades has recently plateaued. This comparative study explores drivers and consequences of child marriage in protracted crises, drawing on mixed-methods research from Gaza and Jordan with married adolescent girls and their parents. Our findings suggest that conflict reignites pre-existing drivers of child marriage, especially conservative norms around family honour and clan inter-marriage. Poverty is a strong driver of child marriage among Syrian refugees, while social protection programmes and educational opportunities for girls have played a protective role in Gaza. In both contexts, our findings underscore the multiple and intersecting negative effects of child marriage on girls’ health and bodily integrity, and point to the urgency of tackling this harmful practice to ensure that no adolescent is left behind.

Evaluating the implementation quality of a vocational education intervention for youth in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya: Evidence of discrimination

“…The starkly lower access to the YEP intervention, especially by female refugee youth due to underfunding and discriminatory cultural practises (also see Mendenhall et al, 2015;NRC, 2015;Flemming, 2017), could perhaps be improved by mechanisms such as community awareness engagements on gender, education, and inclusion. Perceived gender discrimination is linked to gender-based violence and poor health among refugees (Berthold, 2000;Murray and Achieng, 2011;UNHCR, 2012;Hamad et al, 2021). Appropriate interventions that focus on minimising gender discrimination effects among female youth and raising community awareness on the importance of educating female members of the society and their retention in schools are needed in the Dadaab refugee camp (Gichiru and Larkin, 2009).…”

“…Consequently, many have lost essential formal schooling during the conflicts (Milner and Loescher, 2011;Deane, 2016;Flemming, 2017), including lower literacy rates and widened gaps in knowledge across academic subjects (Birman and Tran, 2017). In addition, this schoolage group of refugees have been exposed to violence, sexual abuse, forced marriage, recruitment into armed groups, and other activities that risk their lives (Talbot, 2013;Deane, 2016;UNHCR, 2016;Hamad et al, 2021). Most refugee youth who are over-age and cannot go through basic education are mainly faced with limited access to quality education and psychosocial development support (Berthold, 2000;Taylor and Sidhu, 2012;Flemming, 2017;NRC, 2020).…”

Consequences of Early Marriage on Young Girl – A Systematic Review

“…Physical abuse is perpetrated not only by the husband but also by the in-laws (Elnakib et al, 2022), child bride is generally often portrayed as a young individual that needs to fulfill their tasks and her roles as a devoted daughter-in-law by performing all domestic responsibilities, it is a way to ensure the child bride can be a faithful wife to their sons. Hence, any actions that are seen as non-compliance with the ideation of devoted wives are seen as a bride that is lack of courtesy towards their husband (Hamad et al, 2021) and beating is a means of teaching the bride how to behave per the traditional expectations of wives' responsibilities. Therefore, early marriage is a form of a phenomenon that exposes children to violence and abuse.…”

‘Had I been a girl it would have been a big problem’: An intersectional approach to the social exclusion of refugee adolescents with disabilities in Jordan

“…Gender norms that limit girls’ prospects to marriage and motherhood mean that families are often particularly reluctant to disclose that their daughter has an impairment (AlMakhamreh et al, 2015; Jones et al, 2019a). These norms become strengthened in contexts of displacement because of the lack of opportunities available to girls, and family concerns about protecting girls’ honour (Abu Hamad et al, 2021; Sajdi et al, 2021b). To date, however, there has been scant attention to the mutually constituting processes of exclusion that occur at the intersections of disability, citizenship status, age, geographical location, socioeconomic status and gender.…”