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In many Islamic countries, child marriages are common practice. Girls far below the age of puberty are | In many Islamic countries and around the world, child marriages are common practice. Girls below the age of 18, and often far below the age of puberty are forcibly [[Marriage|married]] to older persons (sometimes in their 50s and later), often for various personal gains by the girls' guardian or with the intention to preserve family [[Honor violence|honor]] by helping her avoid pre-marital [[sex]]. | ||
The prevalence of child marriage involving under 18s is decreasing globally, but is still widespread according to Unicef, affecting millions of girls annually, as well as boys to a much lesser extent.<ref>[https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage Child marriage] - Unicef.org (accessed November 2022)</ref> According to Unicef, "Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide ‘protection’, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a country’s civil registration system." Data available on their website indicates that marriage of girls under 18 and under 15 is common in many predominantly Muslim countries, and similarly in many predominantly Christian countries in Africa, in India (among Hindus as well as Muslims) and to a lesser extent in Latin America and the Caribbean.<ref>[https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ Child marriage data] - Unicef.org (accessed November 2022)</ref> | |||
[[Islamic Law|Islamic law]] permits [[Child Marriage in Islamic Law|child marriage]]. Civil laws to introduce protections against child marriage have sometimes [[Child_Marriage_in_the_Muslim_World#Conclusion|faced opposition on traditional Islamic grounds]]. The practice also exists on a much smaller scale among Muslim populations in some non-Muslim countries such as the United Kingdom, where hundreds of girls under the age of 18 (as well as young adults) are taken overseas to be forcibly married each year.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics] - UK government Forced Marriage Unit</ref> | |||
==Statistics== | ==Statistics== |