Among the negative impacts of extreme weather events around the world is one that most people may not think of: an increase in child marriages.
Among the negative impacts of extreme weather events around the world is one that most people may not think of: an increase in child marriages.
Researchers at The Ohio State University conducted a systematic review of 20 studies connecting droughts, floods and other extreme weather events to increases in child, early and forced marriages in low- and middle-income countries.
Overall, the studies provide compelling evidence of the problem, said Fiona Doherty, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in social work at Ohio State.
It’s not that extreme weather has a direct effect on child marriages, Doherty said.
„What these disasters do is exacerbate existing problems of gender inequality and poverty that lead families to child marriage as a coping mechanism,“ she said.
The study was published recently in the journal International Social Work.
Globally, one in five girls is married before the age of 18, and in lower- and middle-income countries that number rises to 40%.
Those numbers may grow as climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather events around the world, said study co-author Smitha Rao, assistant professor of social work at Ohio State.
„The complexities surrounding child marriage and extreme weather will worsen amid climate change,“ Rao said.
The researchers examined 20 studies published between 1990 and 2022 that examined how extreme weather was related to marriages involving children, mostly girls, who were below the age of 18. Most of the studies were done in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Nepal and Vietnam.
Droughts and floods were the most common disasters, but other studies looked at the impact of cyclones and high temperature shocks, among other weather events.
