Childhood marriage is a common practice in developing countries, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and East Asia. Despite the media’s focus on the high number of girls forced into early marriage, a staggering number of young boys have also been forced into early marriage. Despite the decline in child marriage, an estimated 23 million boys are married by the age of 15. Many organizations are working to end male childhood marriage, such as UNICEF and CARE.org.
According to the first UN analysis of child marriage rates among boys, one in 30 young men were married as children. UNICEF also says that around 115 million boys and men around the world were married before they turned 18. This study analyzed data from 82 countries to reveal that child marriage is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific.
In so many cases boys are left behind as if they don’t face any challenges in life. In similar ways to girls who enter into unions in their childhood; boys who get married before age 18 might also have to deal with experiences and responsibilities. Young fathers may lack the necessary knowledge, resources, and psychosocial support. To deal with the challenges of fatherhood and household responsibilities. Men who marry as children may suffer similar reproductive health consequences, including lower contraception knowledge and use and higher unwanted fertility, as women who marry as children. To our knowledge, men’s contraceptive needs and fertility intentions have been examined in more general terms. But no studies have examined if and how they differ according to their age at marriage.
