Editing Sexism (section)

=== Child and forced marriage ===

{{Main|Child marriage|Forced marriage}}
{{Further|Dowry|Bride price}}
[[File:Girl Summit - 22nd July in London (14498368279).jpg|thumb|alt=Poster against child and forced marriage| Poster against child and forced marriage]]

A child marriage is a marriage where one or both spouses are under 18, a practice that disproportionately affects women.<ref name="UNICEF 2014">{{cite web |date=October 22, 2014 |title=Child marriage |url=http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907061839/https://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html |archive-date=September 7, 2018 |access-date=September 24, 2013 |website=UNICEF}}</ref><ref name="HRW 2013">{{cite web |date=June 14, 2013 |title=Q & A: Child Marriage and Violations of Girls' Rights—Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/14/q-child-marriage-and-violations-girls-rights |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=Hrw.org}}</ref> Child marriages are most common in South Asia, the [[Middle East]] and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], but occur in other parts of the world, too. The practice of marrying young girls is rooted in patriarchal ideologies of control of female behavior and is also sustained by traditional practices such as dowry and bride price.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dowry and abuse still a problem in India |url=http://www.port.ac.uk/uopnews/2013/11/19/dowry-and-abuse-still-a-problem-in-india/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222181509/http://www.port.ac.uk/uopnews/2013/11/19/dowry-and-abuse-still-a-problem-in-india/ |archive-date=February 22, 2015 |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> Child marriage is strongly connected with protecting female [[virginity]].<ref name="Forced Early Marriage">{{cite web |date=n.d. |title=Article 16: Right to marriage and family and to equal rights of men and women during and after marriage {{!}} Case Study: Forced Early Marriage |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art16.shtml |access-date=18 February 2024 |website=BBC World Service}}</ref> UNICEF states that:<ref name="UNICEF 2014" />
<blockquote>Marrying girls under 18 years old is rooted in [[gender discrimination]], encouraging premature and continuous child bearing and giving preference to boys' education. Child marriage is also a strategy for economic survival as families marry off their daughters at an early age to reduce their economic burden.</blockquote>

Consequences of child marriage include restricted education and employment prospects, increased risk of domestic violence, [[child sexual abuse]], pregnancy and birth complications, and [[social isolation]].<ref name="HRW 2013" /><ref name="Forced Early Marriage" /> Early and forced marriage are defined as forms of modern-day slavery by the [[International Labour Organization]].<ref>{{cite news |date=September 9, 2013 |title=Nigeria's child brides: 'I thought being in labour would never end' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/02/nigeria-child-brides-religion |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In some cases, a woman or girl who has been raped may be forced to marry her rapist to restore the honor of her family;<ref name="whqlibdoc.who.int" /><ref>{{cite news |date=2012-03-15 |title=BBC News—Morocco protest after raped Amina Filali kills herself |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17379721 |access-date=2015-03-31}}</ref> [[marriage by abduction]], a practice in which a man abducts the woman or girl whom he wishes to marry and rapes her to force the marriage is common in [[Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite news |date=June 18, 1999 |title=Ethiopia: Revenge of the abducted bride |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/371944.stm |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 23, 2007 |title=IRIN Africa—Ethiopia: Surviving forced marriage—Ethiopia—Children—Gender Issues |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/69993/ethiopia-surviving-forced-marriage |website=IRINnews}}</ref><ref>Pathfinder International/Ethiopia (2006) Report on causes and consequences of early marriage in Amhara region. Retrieved April 18, 2015 from {{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.pathfinder.org/publications-tools/pdfs/Causes-and-Consequesnces-of-Early-Marriage-in-the-Amhara-Region-of-Ethiopia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323124732/http://www.pathfinder.org/publications-tools/pdfs/Causes-and-Consequesnces-of-Early-Marriage-in-the-Amhara-Region-of-Ethiopia.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2013 |access-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref>