Child marriage and ‘early unions’ deprive huge numbers of Mexican girls of education

Hundreds of thousands of girls in Mexico are missing out on education after getting married or living with a man – who聽is聽often much older.

New research shows that 83% of married girls under the age of 17 have left school, rising to 92% of those living informally聽with a聽man.聽But only 15% of those not in a live-in聽relationship have dropped out of school.

The report also聽reveals:

• There are聽320,000聽girls aged 12 to 17 who are聽in聽“early unions” or informal聽cohabiting
• Almost 70% of them are living with a partner who is at least 11 years older
• 25,000 girls aged between 12 and 14 are living in 国产视频渆arly unions国产视频�

Child marriage forces millions of girls out of school every – especially in developing countries where more than 60% of child brides have no formal education.

An average of 40,000 children and young women under the age of 18 are married every day, about聽15 million each year.聽

Early marriage increases the risk of girls suffering violence, health complications and death in childbirth.

The聽legal minimum age for marriage in Mexico is聽18聽– but United Nations officials say this isn国产视频檛 being enforced in some states, where girls as young as 14 are allowed to marry.

Child marriage in Mexico is largely driven by poverty and tradition, according to the charity Girls Not Brides.

The new research,聽commissioned by the Ford Foundation, found that 49% of girls in informal unions and 42% of married girls live with their in-laws.聽

In two of the country’s federal state studied for the report –聽Chiapas聽and Oaxaca – being in a live-in relationships is “almost synonymous with being out of school”.聽聽Only one in 20 girls age 12 to聽17 in a union there still聽attends classes.聽

The report says: “In the impoverished indigenous communities of Chiapas, Oaxaca and聽Guerrero, where nearly all rural unions are non-formal, most unions聽involve some kind of courtship and agreement between the girl and the聽boy.”

In the wealthiest states the school attendance rate among聽girls in unions is still low –聽16% to聽21%. Across the whole country, 40% to 55%聽of girls aged聽12 to 17 in unions have had at least one child.

Across Latin America as a whole,聽nearly one in three girls are married off before they are 18. 聽In many countries, children can get married under 18聽with the permission of parents or a judge.

Luis Almagro,聽General Secretary of the Organization of American States, recently promised聽to tackle聽child marriage in Latin America.聽

国产视频淲ith one in five girls married or living in informal unions before the age of 18, we are losing entire generations to poverty, discrimination and violence,国产视频澛爃e聽said.

Read the Report聽on Early Unions in Mexico