Marriage in Conflict: An exploration of the relationship between conflict and child marriage in the Middle East and North Africa region Público
Rice, Emma (Spring 2023)
Published
Abstract
Child marriage is not a new phenomenon and has resounding health, social, and economic effects on the children in child marriages as well as society. In the Middle East and North Africa, a region plagued by heightened conflict events in the past couple decades, there are many factors that influence the decisions surrounding child marriage. This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between conflict in complex humanitarian emergencies and the prevalence of child marriage, with focus in the Middle East and North Africa region. I examined marriage laws and their minimum marriage ages for the region. Then, I sourced data from international agency reports on health, social, and economic impacts of child marriage, particularly in times of conflict. All states in the region have marriage laws, with approximately half of them subscribing to the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s definition of a child as an individual under the age of 18. Though these laws are in place, the practice of child marriage still exists and is not aligned with the legal frameworks in the states. In eight states that had severe ongoing conflict in 2019, I determined common trends of higher child marriage prevalence among displaced persons, child marriage exacerbated by poverty, and similar driving factors behind the decision to involve a child in a child marriage. There are several rationales behind decisions concerning child marriage: economic, protective, social, religious, and political. In complex humanitarian settings, conflict catalyses all these rationales to increase the risk of child marriage. Establishing protective mechanisms is essential to decreasing the prevalence of child marriage, with education as the most common protective mechanism.
Table of Contents
Background + Significance 1
Methods 7
Results 9
Laws + legality 9
Procedure versus practice 12
State results 12
Afghanistan 13
Egypt 15
Iraq 17
Israel 19
Libya 20
Syria 22
Turkey 24
Yemen 25
Analysis + Discussion 26
Conclusion 33
References 34
Endnotes 35
About this Master's Thesis
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Palabra Clave | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Marriage in Conflict: An exploration of the relationship between conflict and child marriage in the Middle East and North Africa region () | 2023-04-20 20:14:02 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|