Droughts, floods and other extreme weather events by intensify gender inequality and poverty, causing a spurt in child, early and forced marriages
According to a recent study, extreme weather causes an increase in the occurrence of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) by intensifying gender inequality and poverty.
The study warned that development initiatives might reproduce or ignore gender disparities, without concerted efforts accounting for various social inequalities.
Researchers from the Ohio State University, United States connected droughts, floods and other extreme weather events to increases in CEFM in low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Indonesia, Malawi, Nepal, Tanzania and Vietnam.
The researchers found that child marriage is often seen as a coping strategy to reduce economic vulnerability and food insecurity that a family is facing because of a disaster.
In Bangladesh, for instance, daughters were married early after Cyclone Aila in 2009 to reduce their economic and food burden on the household.
Bride price and dowry was an important factor in the link between CEFM and extreme weather. Girls in sub-Saharan Africa or Vietnam — where the groom’s family paying a bride price to the bride’s family is local custom — had an increased probability of CEFM during droughts and rainfall shocks.
But in India, where dowry is common, girls were less likely to get married during a drought year, because the bride’s family could not afford dowry payment.
In some cases, parents resort to CEFM to protect daughters from sexual violence and avoid family dishonour.
Educational attainment and CEFM were inversely associated for girls in India and Malawi. Also, the incidence of CEFM decreased in India and Vietnam as parental education increased.
A Down to Earth report dated February 20, 2023, looked at how COVID-19 as well as poverty may have spurred child marriages in India.
The Global Slavery Index 2023 said climate change has exacerbated modern slavery in Africa. More than 3.1 million Africans are in forced marriages and more than 3.8 million in forced labour.
A number of international conventions and agreements address the issue of child marriage. The complexities and the links between child marriage and extreme weather is likely to worsen amid climate change, unless strictly accounted for in social development plans.
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