Perception and Factors Influencing Early Marriage in a Semi-Urban Community of Sokoto State, North-West Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Most communities have a minimum age set for marriage, and in many of these communities the age is too

‘If she gets married when she is young, she will give birth to many kids’: a qualitative study of child marriage practices amongst nomadic pastoralist communities in Kenya

“…Gender norms sustained child marriage, similar to what has been identified in other low-and-middle-income contexts (Boyden, Pankhurst, and Tafere 2013;Kane et al 2016;Adamu et al 2017;Stark 2018aStark , 2018bSchaffnit, Urassa, and Lawson 2019). The fact that these gender norms applied to both women and their families can explain why families continue to marry their daughters early despite the potential harms identified by participants in this study .…”

“…In Kenya, inequitable gender norms that assign women and girls household responsibilities contribute to child marriage (Steinhaus et al 2016). Norms around girls' sexuality and chastity, for example, contribute to the practice and young girls are expected to be virgins when they marry (Boyden, Pankhurst, and Tafere 2013;Adamu et al 2017;.…”