Social and cultural factors perpetuating early marriage in rural Gambia: an exploratory mixed methods study.

ABSTRACT: Background: Over the last two decades, early marriage in the Gambia declined significantly (from 58% to 30%). Yet evidence indicates that nearly 8.6% of marriages in the Gambia involved girls younger than 15, and 46.5% of marriages are with girls aged 18 or below. The reasons for the decline but continuing practice of early marriage, despite existing legislation prohibiting child marriage, are not very well understood. Very few studies have been conducted to find out what and how local factors influence decisions about early marriage in the Gambia. More information is therefore needed on underlying reasons for the persistence of early marriage in the Gambia so that program managers can use this information to design strategies towards accelerating the decline of early marriages.  Methods:

SUBMITTER: Lowe M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6974925 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature