Child Marriage in Nepal

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Child marriage is very common in poor countries of the Third World. In Nepal, with a population of about 30 million, over half the adults married when they were still children. A UNICEF study reports that 60% of Nepalese women were married by the time they reached 18.

When girls marry at such a young age they leave school and start taking care of their parents-in-law. After they have had children only very few of them have the chance of going back to school. They spend their time working for their new families.

Now the Nepalese government and human rights groups are working together in order to help such children and teenagers. They are trying to show them how bad marrying at such an early age can be. Some success has already been made. The number of girls who were married by the time they reached 15 has dropped from 25% to 7%.

The key to the problem is getting children to stay in schools once they are there. They have to resist the wishes of their parents who want them to marry at an early age. According to human rights groups the government must also create more jobs for females, so that they have a chance to work after their education.

According to Nepalese law, a person must be at least 20 years old to get married, but people are not punished if they do not obey. The hope remains that today’s women who had to marry at an early age will influence their children not to do the same and finish school.