Social and gender norms and child marriage

A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in

the field
Margaret E. Greene and Ellen Stiefvater

April 2019
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the advice and input they received from Ben Cislaghi, London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine; Anita Raj, University of California at San Diego; Alessandra Tranquilli, Girls Not Brides;
Nidal Karim, CARE; Leigh Stefanik, CARE; Rachel Marcus, ODI; and Rachel George, ODI. Each of these generous
colleagues is an expert on social norms theory and its application to research and programs that work to end child
marriage.

About the authors

Margaret E. Greene, GreeneWorks
Margaret Greene has worked for over 20 years on the social and cultural determinants of health, development policy
and gender. Her work has guided many organisations’ work in the gender equality and development space, and she has
focused heavily on the issue of child marriage over the past 12 years. She provided technical support on child marriage in
the establishment of Girls Not Brides and supported the office of First Lady Michelle Obama in defining her Let Girls
Learn initiative. She is currently the regional coordinator of an eight-country study on child marriage in Latin America
and the Caribbean for Plan International. Dr Greene is a member of the Board of Promundo Global, a leading civil
society organisation working with men and boys on gender equality and violence prevention. She received her PhD in
Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, and her BA in linguistics from Yale University.

Ellen Stiefvater, Columbia University

Ellen Stiefvater currently serves as Engagement Director with the Leadership Now Project, where she works to
drive political change in the US. Ellen’s work has focused on understanding and addressing the social and political
determinants of health. In previous roles, she directed and conducted health service research in South Africa, led training
programmes on HIV/AIDS in China, and managed community-based health initiatives in the US. Ellen holds an MPhil
in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University, a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a BA in
International Relations from the University of Wisconsin.

Permanent identifier
Use this permanent URL when linking to this resource – https://www.alignplatform.org/resources/2019/04/social-
gender-norms-and-child-marriage and include the following citation – Greene, M. E. and Stiefvater, E. (2019). Social
and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field. ALIGN: London
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

Table of Contents

Overview: Gender norms and child marriage 4

Introduction 4
Child marriage around the world 4

Evidence on child marriage and gender norms: what do we know? 5

Child marriage is not a norm itself, but reflects other gender and social norms 5
The bidirectional relationship between education and child marriage 7
Economic drivers 8
The relationship between laws and norms 8
Child marriage norms in contexts of crisis, conflict and migration 9
Norms affecting the health impacts of child marriage on women and their children 10
Divorce 11

‘What works’ in programmes and practice? 12

Knowledge gaps and conclusions 14

References 16

Figures
Figure 1: Gendered norms and beliefs contributing to child marriage 6

Boxes
Box 1: The Syrian conflict and child marriage norms 10

Tables
Table 1: Key reviews of 'what works' literature 13

3
 Overview: Gender norms
and child marriage
Introduction of social norms and child marriage, identifying trends
‘Social norms’ currently figure among the most and gaps, highlighting key resources, and offering some
fashionable topics in social science research. While analytical perspective. This discussion piece is based on
‘culture’ was once referenced as a black-box variable by a literature search and interviews with researchers and
non-anthropologists, the research on social norms has practitioners working in the area.
represented an effort to get more precise in concepts and
measurement. Still, it means different things to different
people and is inconsistently conceptualised and measured. Child marriage around the world
Child, early and forced marriage (abbreviated to ‘child
A strong movement to identify and address gender marriage’ or CEFM and viewed as marriage before the
norms has developed alongside and within these efforts age of 18) is a global problem that violates girls’ human
to address social norms. An important distinguishing rights, curtails their schooling, harms their health, and
feature of the gender norms work is the understanding of sharply constrains their futures (UNFPA, 2012; Greene,
gender as a hierarchical system that sharply disadvantages 2014). Young wives’ low status in their marital households
girls, women and non-conforming men and boys. (Work can subject them to long hours of labour, social isolation,
on social norms, in contrast, can be quite agnostic about physical, sexual, and emotional violence, the risks related
the identity of the individuals upholding norms.) to early pregnancy, and having little say over anything that
affects them (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2005).
Child marriage was one of the first areas of gender-
related inequalities to which social and gender norms Of course, boys are also negatively affected by denial of
perspectives have been applied. The focus on gender choice of marriage partner or timing of marriage and
norms in child marriage has ref lected an appreciation of by adult male responsibilities being thrust on them too
how difficult it is for individuals to decide independently young. But patriarchal power relations mean that within
to marry later or for their children to marry later, even marriage they have greater say, and also do not suffer the
when they think it is the right thing to do. The rules negative health effects of early pregnancy.
of patriarchy underlie most systems of marriage, and
an understanding of gender norms is fundamental to Child marriage is most prevalent in South Asia and sub-
explaining and working to end this practice that is so Saharan Africa and in some parts of Latin America, the
harmful to girls in many parts of the world. Caribbean and the Middle East (UNICEF, 2017). In South
Asia, almost half of girls marry before age 18, and one in
The production of scholarly and programmatic pieces six before age 15. Various regions of Africa follow South
related to social norms and child marriage has increased Asia in prevalence, with around 40% of women aged 20
as interest in social norms has grown. While social norms to 24 married in childhood. In the United States, quite a
are not yet consistently understood or integrated in all few states allow marriage before age 18, and some allow
relevant work, there is a widening array of literature exceptions to the age of consent to be made by parents
that engages with child marriage as a product of social and judges and in cases of pregnancy, enabling girls to
norms at least to some degree. This literature includes marry even younger (McClendon and Sandstrom, 2016).
the social science research focused on how social norms Worldwide, more than 650 million women alive today were
relate to behaviour and how they are transmitted, married before their 18th birthdays, and about 250 million
studies documenting the practice and prevalence of were married before age 15 (UNICEF, 2014: 2).
child marriage and the array of negative health and
development outcomes associated with the practice, Despite many countries adopting minimum age of
evaluations of interventions designed to prevent child marriage laws, which themselves codify a set of norms
marriage, and tools developed for measuring social norms and aspirations, many of these laws allow for exceptions,
and programme impacts. Rather than systematically and/or are commonly violated, meaning their existence
reviewing these literatures, here we try to move the alone does not signify an effective tool for shifting the
conversation forward by synthesising the collective norms underpinning and driving child marriage. While
contributions these pieces make to our understanding legal norms can reflect and drive changes in norms, these

4
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

norms are, in some cases, actively resisted; furthermore, Caribbean where informal unions are entered into by
pluralistic legal systems, widespread exceptions to girls themselves, are among those groups for which
minimum age laws, and weak law enforcement all CEFM has persisted.1
combine to limit the role of the law in changing norms
about child marriage. In analysing the changes ref lected in the new UNICEF
data, Girls Not Brides notes that a greater understanding
Child marriage has been declining in many settings, most of the causes of the decline is needed (Girls Not Brides,
notably before age 15 in most, probably as a consequence 2018; UNICEF, 2017). Globally, it is likely that secular
of increasing levels of schooling among boys and girls in drivers of change, i.e., changes not directly related to
low- and middle-income countries. In 2018, UNICEF CEFM, are playing an important role. These include
reported significant drops in child marriage around things such as the growing recognition of the importance
the world, especially in India and Ethiopia; they cited of education, including for girls, and the expansion
these countries as having recognised the problem and of free and universal primary, and to a lesser extent,
taken action early on. In some settings and among some secondary, schooling; employment opportunities in
disadvantaged groups, the practice has been resistant places such as the garment industry in Bangladesh,
to change. As a consequence, the practice has become Cambodia and elsewhere; improved transport that
more concentrated in specific hotspots and among makes it easier to get to school; and so on. These factors
disadvantaged groups. In sub-Saharan Africa, CEFM is and many others have slowly pushed up age at marriage,
declining so slowly that even a doubling of the rate of but their impact on girls’ agency and empowerment
reduction would not decrease the number of girls who varies greatly. Women’s employment opportunities, for
marry each year (UNICEF, 2015). Ethnic minorities example, can contribute to their empowerment and to
in Southeast Asia (WCCC, 2017), young women in changes in how they are viewed, or they can bring in
East and Southeast Asia who become pregnant outside the funds to pay for dowry and leave women in largely
of marriage (ibid), and girls in Latin America and the unchanged circumstances.

Evidence on child marriage and

gender norms: what do we know?
The focus of this section is on social science research on age hierarchies, religious beliefs, gender inequality,
child marriage and gender norms. To organise and make and women’s and men’s respective economic roles. An
sense of this vast literature, we draw out key themes and anthropological analysis of female genital cutting and
areas in which especially interesting discussions have early marriage in Ethiopia, for example, highlights the
taken place or are underway. role these practices are perceived to play in protecting
family reputation and heritage, contributing to
Child marriage is not a norm itself, the well-being of girls, and helping to define the
but reflects other gender and social transition to adulthood (Boyden et al., 2012). A study
of child marriage among ethnic Roma immigrants in
norms
France describes the way in which describing them as
Social norms underpin systems of marriage globally. ‘traditional’ sets them up as wrong and in conf lict with
Norms underpinning child marriage range across the ‘modern’ standards of the European Union, and
domains of the transition to adulthood, sexuality, does not recognise internal resistance to the practice;

1 Plan International has just completed a multi-country study in eight countries of the region to examine the normative aspects of CEFM in
the region and appropriate responses. The reference to the regional report is Greene, Margaret E., and country teams from Bolivia, Brazil,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru, with Jill Gay, Alana Kolundzija, Brian Greenberg, Alexander
Munive and Emma Puig de la Bellacasa. 2019. Hidden in Plain Sight: A Multi-Country Study on Adolescent Girls in Child, Early and Forced
Marriages and Unions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama: Plan International Regional Office of the Americas, and UNFPA. It will
be available via Plan International’s 18+ website.
5
 yet it seems that anti-racism efforts then support child Qualitative research efforts have enriched our
marriage by treating it as a practice that is essential to understanding of the motivations of those who practice
Roma identity (Chaudhuri-Brill, 2016). Much of the child marriage. A report on Plan International’s Asia
normative structure underpinning systems of marriage Child Marriage Initiative outlines the ‘core ideas
is patriarchal. Some of the norms which inherently associated with reasons for marriage’ gleaned from their
serve to preserve a patriarchal organisation of power in interviews and focus groups in sites where Plan had
society, and which also lend themselves to permitting child marriage-related programming (Plan International
and condoning the marriage of girls as children, and Coram International, 2015). They find that these
include norms, beliefs and ideologies surrounding: ideas ref lect the ends to which marriage is a means for
transitions to adulthood; the social construction of men, women and their families. In other words, child
sexuality; obedience to elders or filial piety; religious marriage helps people accomplish certain goals that are
and cosmological understandings and expectations; the consistent with their worldviews. Many ref lect rational
centrality of marriage for girls’ life project; the economic human concerns: the wish to be safe or the wish to
value of men versus women; and romantic expectations. have children, for example. But they also capture the
strength of the social norms which underlie patriarchy
For a visual diagram from the ALIGN Project broadly, as well as the practice of marriage and of child
representing specific norms and beliefs which tend to marriage specifically. In Plan International’s study, male
drive child marriage across low and middle-income and female participants of a variety of ages across sites
country contexts, view Figure 1. in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia tended to cite
fulfilment of sexual, emotional and reproductive needs
Box 1 and Table 1 in Marcus and Harper (2015) provide as well as labour related to caring for themselves, their
a very good inventory of the sorts of norms that bear on homes and parents as reasons men needed to marry. In
the lives of girls and could influence child marriage. contrast, the same participants explained that women

Gendered
Figure Normsnorms
1: Gendered and Beliefs Contributing
and beliefs totoChild
contributing child Marriage
marriage

Beliefs that
parents and
elders have
Lack of prime authority
opportunities for over children's
women and girls in life trajectories
society
Legal systems that
do not set or
enforce, or allow
exceptions to, a
minimum marriage
A girl should age of 18
obey her
parents over
timing/choice
of marriage
partner
Girls should
be virgins
Beliefs about before
marriage as key marriage
route to social A responsible
Injunctive norm:
and economic parent should
A girl should marry
ensure their
protection young
daughter is
married by early
adulthood
Descriptive norm: Beliefs about the
Most girls here get importance of
married by the time female sexual
they are 18 purity

Sexual activity
To become a should only
woman a girl take place
should marry within
heterosexual
marriage

Broad influencing factors

Economic systems
that place greater
economic value on Beliefs influencing norms
males than females
Norms influencing child marriage
Beliefs about
women's role in Norms about child marriage
society as wives
and mothers

Credit: Margaret Greene, Rachel Marcus, Rachel George (ALIGN)

6
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

needed to marry in order to avoid the risks associated of opportunities for girls to apply their education de-
with not being married: risks to her reputation, safety motivates girls and undermines their families’ interest in
and bodily integrity, risk of harming her family’s honour sending them to school.
or burdening them economically, or the risk of poverty or
homelessness for herself and her children. The education-child marriage relationship is further
complicated by factors such as rural residence and
The bidirectional relationship poverty, which correlate with both education and
between education and child child marriage. For example, rural areas typically have
lower access to schools and fewer formal employment
marriage
opportunities, both of which impact the trade-off
Significant quantitative research documents a correlation between education and marriage for girls. Distance to
(across many geographies) between years of education school raises concerns for parents about the safety of their
and age at marriage (Kamal et al., 2015; Raj, 2010). This daughters. Traditional social norms are also typically
finding forms the basis for much of the programming slower to change in rural areas than urban areas.
aimed at ending child marriage. However, the correlation
belies a complex bi-directional relationship which is often This is an area where social norms research has the
highly variable even within the same country context, potential to move the field forward. The same social
and which plays out on many levels, from households and norms which devalue girls and women as contributors to
communities to laws and policies. societies and economies underpin both marriage practices
and educational opportunities, regardless of the direction
Norms regarding education and child marriage are closely of causality. Perhaps as important as understanding
intertwined, and these two activities compete in the same whether girls drop out of school to marry, marry instead
stage of girls’ lives. Not surprisingly, cause and consequence of going to school, or follow a more complex path, is
are difficult to discern (Lloyd and Mensch, 2008). It may understanding the social norms and structural and
appear that girls either drop out of school because they get economic factors that devalue girls’ contributions outside
married or that they get married because they are not in the home.
school; in fact, the evidence supports both arguments.
A better mapping of the social norms around girls’
But rarely does child marriage lead simply and directly marriage and education would also serve to highlight the
to dropping out of school, or vice versa (Brown, 2012). opportunities for change. For example, understanding
Certainly in some settings, the strength of traditional normative contexts in which married girls continue
norms may dictate that either marriage or education may their education, such as schools for married girls in Iran
be pre-ordained paths for some girls; and in some settings (Greene et al., 2002), could point the way towards escape
the conventional wisdom in international development, from the zero-sum game of marriage or education for
that girls stay in school until marriage forces them out adolescent girls.
or choose marriage only because there are no educational
opportunities, may apply. But the more common paths Finally, empirical evidence on the nature and
to child marriage are likely to be less linear. Expectations transmission of social norms in general and current
and intentions around education and marriage are child marriage practices specifically, such as Plan
likely to change over time as circumstances change for International’s finding that parents’ education level
girls and their families. The anticipation of marriage is inversely related to daughters’ age at marriage (Plan
can undermine girls’ school experience and lead them International and Coram International, 2015), can
to question the utility of education they may have no inform the design of interventions to shift the balance
opportunity to apply; this can lead to poor performance so that foregoing education carries more social risk than
and dropping out. Schools may be of poor quality pursuing it.
(Mensch et al., 2001); this may reinforce parents’ sense
that sending girls to school is a waste of resources and A 2015 article described international efforts to end child
that marrying them off is more prudent; or schools and marriage in terms of norms entrepreneurship, arguing
teachers may reinforce harmful gender norms by teaching that current norms entrepreneurs (civil society groups)
girls that their education will be limited and its purpose are using normative reframing to link child marriage
is only to make them better wives. Having premarital to other important global goals and policy priorities
sex increases girls’ likelihood of dropping out of school as illustrated by efforts to define child marriage as a
(Biddlecom et al., 2008). And the persisting dearth human right, thereby linking it to strongly supported

7
 international norms and institutions, and advocacy trillions of dollars by 2030. The largest economic costs by
efforts around the inclusion of child marriage in the far would stem from fertility and population growth, with
Sustainable Development Goals (Shawki, 2015). significant costs from stunting and child mortality, as well
as loss of girls’ education. This research, which represents
Economic drivers the first global costing of child marriage, in effect estimates
What is the interface between economic drivers of child the cost of prevailing gendered social norms.
marriage and gendered social norms? All of these factors
are of course closely interwoven. Structural economic The relationship between laws and
factors like lack of girls’ education and economic norms
opportunities, poverty and financial dependency among
women and girls create powerful, rational incentives The widespread existence of laws prohibiting marriage
for families to practice child marriage. Social norms below the age of 18 as a violation of universal human
supporting male sexual and social dominance reinforce rights, as enshrined most specifically in the 1964
these incentives (Plan International and Coram International Convention on Consent to Marriage,
International, 2015). In South Asia, dowry increases Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of
with the prospective bride’s age and level of education, Marriages (UN, 1964), as well as contained in varying
exerting downward pressure on age at marriage specificities in the 1990 Convention on the Rights
(Anderson, 2007). Although this literature does not of the Child and other international agreements,
engage closely with norms arguments, the interpretation shows that norm change has occurred on some level
and meaning of these economic drivers has everything to already. International norms and the policy and legal
do with norms of domestic roles and economic activity or frameworks of the majority of the world’s countries are
dependency, or otherwise girls would not be singled out clear in their disapproval of child marriage and make
as ‘burdens’ to the family. varying contributions to changing incentives around its
continued practice.
A brief produced by Girls Not Brides and ICRW (2016)
makes the case that because child marriage is often driven Achievements in law and policy reflect shared
by poverty, providing income-generating opportunities understandings about what progress looks like, what is
or financial support to girls and their families can protect just, and what we aspire to.3 But in countries where the
girls from early marriage. It details various programmes practice of child marriage persists, these aspirations may
using strategies such as workforce education, financial not be shared by all; or norms and other factors holding
literacy, job placement and financial support and harmful practices in place may outweigh those aspirations.
loans. Conditional cash transfers are currently gaining
popularity as a tool for postponing the marriage of In 153 of 198 countries, people must be over the age of
adolescent girls, but Amin et al. (2016) caution that 18 to marry. However, many of these same countries
this approach is unlikely to address social norms in allow exceptions – for example, in Australia, an 18-year-
communities and within marriage. They and others old can marry someone as young as 16 with ‘judicial
advocate a broader view of programme impact, to include approval.’ In Iraq, Jamaica and Uruguay, people under
access to education, realisation of rights, and efforts to the age of 18 can marry with parental permission. In
change norms (Nanda et al., 2012). some countries marriage ages differ based on religious
affiliation (for example, different rules for Muslim boys
The Economic Impacts of Child Marriage project, 2 and girls, whereby Muslim girls may marry at puberty
a collaboration between ICRW and the World Bank, and Muslim boys at 15). In 38 countries, women and
assessed the collective impacts of child marriage (on early men have different minimum ages of marriage under the
childbearing, fertility, contraceptive use, intimate partner law, 4 with all but one having a lower age of marriage for
violence, educational attainment, earnings in adulthood, girls than for boys – for example, in Bangladesh a woman
and decision-making ability within the household, and must be 18 to marry but a man must be 21 (Sandstrom
health impacts on the children of child brides), and found and Theodoru, 2016). Six countries – Equatorial Guinea,
that child marriage could cost developing countries

2 See www.costsofchildmarriage.org/about
3 For a useful interactive map of child marriage laws, prevalence data, and other data, see www.girlsnotbrides.org/where-does-it-happen/atlas/#/
4 In the case of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Grand Mufti callied the marriage of girls ‘permissable’ under Sharia law, despite efforts by the Ministry
of Justice to instantiate a minimum age of a marriage for a girl of 15 (Arabian Business, 2014). For a discussion of Islamic perspectives informing
arguments against child marriage, see Islamic Relief (2018). For a mapping of Muslim family laws from the ‘Sisters in Islam’ Musawah movement,
8 see Musawah (n.d.).
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

Gambia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen In these cases, understanding under what circumstances
– still do not specify a minimum age at all. child marriage is practised requires understanding the
social norms at play. When the practice of child marriage
Useful contributions from literature related to the legal persists despite growing institutional and normative
and policy context of child marriage include empirical constraints on it (national minimum age of marriage laws;
evidence on the association between legal and policy a global normative environment rejecting the practice
measures and the practice of child marriage, and via treaties and declarations; growing awareness of the
tracking progress on the development of consistent legal health harms of early pregnancy; the strengthening of a
frameworks against child marriage. This research is rife global norm favouring girls’ education), it is because the
with limitations and challenges, including: frequent bias social norms supporting the practice are strong, and the
in reporting the legal age of marriage rather than the structural environment facilitates it. For the families and
actual age; data that indicates whether marriage took communities continuing the practice, marrying their
place before 18 but not the age at which it happened; daughters as children carries less social risk and more
data on the frequency of conf licting legal indications benefits than the alternative. Weak enforcement and
at national and subnational levels and the ubiquity of easy exceptions to laws against child marriage reflect and
legal exceptions to minimum age requirements; and a reinforce the gender norms in place. Better research on
lack of information on enforcement of laws. Despite social norms could help us to isolate and address the social
this, multiple studies have been able to show an inverse factors that are resistant to change through legal reform.
association between consistent minimum age at marriage
laws and child marriage (Kim et al., 2013). A recent
study uses a new global policy database to analyse Child marriage norms in contexts of
national legislation regarding minimum marriage age, crisis, conflict and migration
exceptions permitting marriage at earlier ages, and
gender disparities in laws (Arthur et al., 2017). The The destabilisation and displacement of communities
authors show improvements in legal provisions but also that occur in situations of conf lict, forced migration
identify remaining gaps, specifically regarding legal or other crises have the potential to reinforce or erode
exceptions and gender discrimination. The impact of laws existing norms, including the norms that support child
criminalising child marriage is ambiguous, according marriage (Schlecht et al., 2013). Girls themselves may
to RESURJ’s research on sexual rights violations; as be inclined to marry early as a response to changed
they observe, ‘criminalization in the context of public circumstances and insecurity (Knox, 2017). Civil society
health issues will lead to violations of the human rights organisations and United Nations agencies have been
of the individuals they are supposedly seeking to protect’ working to document and respond to violence against
(RESURJ, 2016: 3). children, including child marriage, in conf lict settings
(Noble et al., 2017). The heightened vulnerability of
Empirical work on the effectiveness of legal frameworks families experiencing periods of crisis and transition
in preventing child marriage points to two key challenges: due to physical and economic insecurity can change the
(1) pluralistic legal systems, and (2) the use of legal relative importance of social norms and other factors,
exceptions to minimum age laws. These exceptions are resulting in a new calculus for decision-making, as Box
important normative counterpoints to the laws, and 1 shows.
undermine the application of the law in circumstances
where parents or judges view marriage as advantageous. Issues of safety and security and fear of violence has
also been found to increase early marriage in the wake
Social norms theory might be used to better understand of natural disasters. Oxfam documented a rise in child
why and how legal measures do or do not impact the marriage following the 2004 tsunami, including cases
practice of child marriage: for example, what norms where girls who were orphaned were being married off
they are tied to, and under what circumstances law and by family or community members (Oxfam International,
policy measures can actually tip the scales in favour of 2005). Plan International found that early marriage
delayed marriage despite the persistence of harmful increased following the 2010 f loods in Pakistan and the
gender norms, and how legal change (such as promoting earthquake in Haiti; in both cases this was attributed to
the removal of legal exceptions to the minimum age for fear of rape (Plan International, 2011).
marriage) may or may not drive changes to norms driving
child marriage.

9
 Box 1: The Syrian conflict and child marriage norms
The ongoing conflict in Syria and the hardship faced by Syrians in its wake embody the way conflict can
upend individual lives, social institutions, and ways of life. For example, before the conflict, more than 95%
of Syrian children were enrolled in primary school, reflecting a strong normative valuing of early education.
A 2013 UNICEF project reported, however, that among Syrian refugees in Jordan, only about half of Syrian
refugee children are in school, and in Lebanon only around 20% (UNICEF et al., 2013).
Syria is also an example of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war (itself a reflection of patriarchal
social norms), and one which history has shown to be so effective at destroying social identity. Fear of rape
has been cited in refugee accounts as a key reason for fleeing Syria, and the impetus for many child marriages
in which marriages are arranged to ‘preserve the honour’ of girls who have been raped or are perceived to
have been raped (UN Women, 2018).
Mourtada, Schlecht and DeJong (2017) identified several changes in the way child marriage was being
practised in the refugee population in Lebanon as compared to in pre-conflict Syria, notably all ways of
hastening or simplifying the path to girl marriage, including shorter duration of engagement, lower bride
price, reduced age at marriage, and changes in cousin marriage practices. Qualitative research identified
issues of safety and security related to displacement, worsening of economic conditions, and disruption of
girls’ education as drivers of the increased risk for child marriage. Others have documented similar trends
among Jordan’s Syrian refugee girls, including a trend towards young girls marrying much older men for
financial stability (MADRE et al., 2013), and the use of brokers to arrange marriages of Syrian girls from poor
families to older men from other countries in the Arab world, where Syrian women are apparently prized for
their skin tone and eye colour (Frenkel, 2014).

A 2014 Council on Foreign Relations report recommends Norms affecting the health impacts
that keeping children in school and girls out of marriage of child marriage on women and their
should be prioritised by the US government, UN children
agencies and multilaterals and NGOs working in fragile
societies in times of conf lict and disaster (Lemmon, The literature which treats child marriage as a risk factor
2014). The report called for detailed, disaggregated for poor health outcomes in married girls and their
data on affected populations; elevation of the issue of babies provides an essential empirical basis to motivate
child marriage in US diplomacy; and integration of the action against child marriage, while simultaneously
unique needs of girls into post-disaster and post-conflict highlighting, often by its omissions, crucial gaps in our
planning, including creating girls schools accessible to understanding of the normative context in which those
displaced people, conditional cash transfers for girls, and poor health outcomes arise.
reimbursement of families for the income they may have
received if their daughters were working or married. The A significant public health literature documents the
Women’s Refugee Commission similarly recommended impacts of child marriage on girls and women married
in a 2015 report that interventions should aim to ensure as children, and many durable findings have emerged,
that basic needs of families are met during the acute such as the global association between higher rates of girl
phase of an emergency, and that programmes be designed child marriage and higher rates of maternal and infant
to promote the agency and value of adolescent girls (Girls mortality (Raj and Boehmer, 2013). This work mainly
in Emergency Collaborative, 2015). focuses on sexual and reproductive health outcomes
associated with early initiation of sexual activity and
The existing evidence primarily documents ways in early pregnancy, and often treats child marriage as a risk
which crisis can precipitate reinforcement of unequal factor for those outcomes. There is growing appreciation
gender norms and increases in child marriage as families of the psychosocial impact of child marriage and how
in crisis seek to prevent dishonour or economic hardship. this plays out in their physical and mental health (Petroni
Further investigation is needed into how norms around et al., 2017; Le Strat et al., 2011). Girls’ lack of mobility,
the value and practice of child marriage in crises might social isolation, and inability to make decisions and their
be shifted in ways that lead to increased agency for girls. domestic roles contribute to their poor health.

10
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

Empirical work has shown demographic consequences they have documented happen. For example, a 2010
of child marriage including higher overall fertility, study finding that the risk of malnutrition is higher in
closer birth spacing, and less control by women of family young children born to mothers married as girls rightly
planning and contraceptive use, and health impacts calls for further research into how early marriage impacts
of early childbearing include higher risk of maternal children’s access to food (Raj et al., 2009).
mortality, fistula and undernourishment (Marphatia et
al., 2017). In some cases, public health researchers add An exceptional recent contribution to this literature
analyses which aim to tease out contextual factors. For theorised that child marriage serves as a vehicle for both
example, a study showing the increased risk of maternal biological and social process, and that therefore both
mortality for child brides also showed that countries biological and social pathways contribute to the well-
with higher rates of girl child marriage also had higher being of babies born to child mothers in sub-Saharan
non-utilisation of maternal health services, making a key Africa. By virtue of their focus on the mechanisms, both
link between the social and behavioural context of child biological and social, for this association, and their large
marriage and the health outcomes associated with it (Raj sample size (37,558 mother-child pairs), Efevbera and
and Boehmer, 2013). colleagues show quantitatively that early childbearing
is not the sole pathway by which child marriage impacts
The identification of relevant structural factors like child health, but that maternal education level and
this can add to our understanding of how and why family wealth also serve as pathways (Efevbera et al.,
child marriage confers harm, and of what measures can 2017). While this work does not engage with social
mitigate that harm. A 2013 study in Ethiopia which norms directly, it does add significant statistical power
found higher rates of suicidality in adolescent girls to the evidence implicating education and poverty as key
who were married, promised or had received marriage structural drivers, and it provides a rare bridge between
requests, added a layer of analysis that showed that the public health literature that treats child marriage as a
girls living in communities actively working to stop risk factor and the social science work aimed at unpacking
child marriage experienced some protection from this the norms and other factors supporting child marriage.
association (risk of suicidal ideation) (Gage, 2013). This
finding provided a basis for recommending stronger By and large, the public health literature on child
community engagement in child marriage prevention, marriage does not yet engage meaningfully with social
and contributes to what we know about how to chip away norms. Yet norms are the fabric shaping women’s
at harmful normative structures. experiences in married life; they underpin the social and
behavioural factors – such as access to contraception,
A recent review article of the health and social impacts quality of health facilities, education level, and wealth
of child marriage in Asia illustrated that marriage – that convey women’s risk of these negative health
age is not only a ‘gateway’ to the many negative health outcomes. Norms can affect women negatively, both
consequences of early childbearing, as the public health physically and mentally, in ways that have broader,
world sees it, nor is it just a practice with human capital lasting impact. One exception may be the emerging work
consequences, as social scientists may see it; rather, these on the connections between normative expectations
issues are interconnected and mutually reinforcing about sexuality and child marriage, and the kinds
(Marphatia et al., 2017). of interventions that can address sexuality, even in
challenging circumstances (Greene et al., 2018).
Similarly, studies have shown that children born to
married girls are at higher risk of stunting (Efevbera et
al., 2017), pre-term birth and low birth weight (Kurth et Divorce
al., 2010) and infant mortality (Raj and Boehmer, 2013). Divorce is little discussed in the child marriage literature,
Adolescent motherhood is often the true risk factor of but the possibility of leaving a marriage is what confers
interest in these studies rather than child marriage itself. any meaningful sense of choice. The literature on gender-
These studies make an important empirical contribution based violence has much to say about how the shame
by providing rigorous evidence of the intergenerational of divorce keeps women from seeking help when they
health harms of child marriage; however, they often miss are abused or threatened. As research from Kyrgyzstan
the opportunity to engage with the contextual factors shows, ‘cultural traditions and social norms – most
and social norms which drive child marriage and its notably the social construction of marriage, the shame
associated outcomes. Often, researchers conclude that associated with divorce, and the status of daughters-
more research is needed on exactly how the associations in-law in Kyrgyz society – are used to justify domestic

11
 violence and prevent victims from seeking help’ their needs take precedence, that their economic support
(Childress, 2018). In Vietnam, social norms supporting for the household ‘buys’ them the right to an obedient
marriage discourage abused women from seeking divorce and deferential sexual and domestic partner – these
and support; they also impede police and local court norms are reinforced by women’s and men’s respective
systems and community-based support networks from resources (age, financial assets, education, employment)
providing help to these women (Vu et al., 2014). and contribute to determining the power balance within
marriage. Girls marrying early are thus positioned
What is the relevance to a discussion of child marriage? to experience disadvantage within union, and that
Wives’ and husbands’ ‘bargaining power’ within disadvantage can extend to their inability to leave.
marriage is determined by the resources they bring into
their marriages, and their ability to leave – referred With norms strongly biased against their leaving, women
to in the economic literature as their ‘threat point’ are trapped, even when they face violence and abuse.
(Quisumbing et al., 2005). Normative expectations for As the author of the research in Kyrgyzstan writes,
women about marriage being the most desirable state, ‘Successful prevention requires more upstream efforts to
that divorce is shameful, that women should put up with change the social constructions of marriage and gender
abuse and greater domestic workloads and defer to their roles, and not a strategy limited to treating the symptoms
husbands to keep the peace; and normative expectations of the problem at the individual level’ (Childress, 2018).
for men that they dominate in decision-making, that

‘What works’ in programmes

and practice?
The ‘what works’ literature often does not engage deeply its documentation of the evolving field, ICRW published
with social norms theory, and the evidence that does its systematic review Solutions to End Child Marriage:
reference social norms suffers from some limitations that What the Evidence Shows (ICRW, 2016). It highlighted
make it difficult to compare and summarise. There is programmes that educate and mobilise parents and
significant variability in both the types of interventions community members as one of the five key areas of
that target child marriage, and in the outcomes measured, intervention, noting that this is where efforts to change
and while some studies have showed clear impacts, more norms are located. Just as importantly, it compared the
often results have been marginal or mixed. programmes across four areas that relate implicitly to
norms: (1) depth versus scale and sustainability, (2)
About ten years ago, research by the International Center evaluation rigour, (3) time horizon and (4) selection bias
for Research on Women produced the Knot Ready and tipping point.
review of programmes working to end child marriage
in India (ICRW, 2008). They found that providing life Specific approaches that have been used to change norms
skills and raising awareness of the issue of child marriage at community level and thereby reduce child marriage
were the most common strategies, and that parents and include those that promote community dialogue and
programme implementers were reluctant to challenge the organising mothers’ and fathers’ clubs, like Tostan in
norms that kept the practice in place. (This was before Senegal, and Berhane Hewan in Ethiopia.
intense global focus greatly increased investment and
sharpened attention on the role played by gender norms Edutainment via television series, films, radio dramas and
and the distinctive programmes required to addressed interactive theatre has been another promising strategy
them.) In 2014, ICRW published More Power to Her, to shift norms relating to child marriage. Examples of
a review of programmes that highlighted the elements work in this area include Breakthrough TV in India.
that empower girls to make decisions about their own Also interesting is the work using Interactive Theatre for
lives and to inf luence family and community to improve Justice to end child marriage in Bangladesh (Aleem, 2017).
conditions for girls (ICRW, 2014). In 2016, continuing

12
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

Table 1: Key reviews of 'what works' literature

Review Key findings

McQueston • Findings suggest that improving school attendance may be just as effective as or more effective in
et al. (2013) reducing adolescent childbearing as providing reproductive health education in school; conclude that
improving education may be a substitute for family planning
• Evidence for effectiveness of cash transfers is stronger that for the other interventions evaluated;
impact on increasing age at marriage, marriage rate among adolescents, total fertility, and teen
pregnancy

Kalamar et • Four studies had significant positive impact – three of these provided an economic incentive to stay in
al. (2016) school; one implemented life skills curriculum and parental education.
• Of the additional three studies with mixed results, all offered school fees or cash transfers
• They concluded that those with an economic component had the greatest impact

Chae and • Looked at both single and multi-component interventions that included one or more activity in the
Ngo (2017) following areas: empowerment, schooling, economic interventions and community-level interventions
• They also analysed cost-effectiveness data useful for comparing successful interventions
• They found that interventions with an empowerment component were the most successful

Botea et al. • This less systematic review looked at broader effects on improving sexual and reproductive health
(2017) outcomes
• They found life skills, economic opportunities and school incentives to be the most impactful things to do

Yount et al. • Looked at individual-level and multi-level interventions

(2017) • Definition of gender-based violence included child marriage, and instances that are not child marriage
are relevant
• Found community engagement, skill-building to enhance voice/agency, social network expansion to be
important

Girls’ clubs and empowerment programmes, in schools our engagement with the social and gender norms that
and in communities, are also a common element of anti- contribute to the persistence of those practices.
child-marriage programming. Their focus is helping girls
develop the negotiation skills to avoid child marriage, The major recent reviews of what works to end child
helping them know their legal rights and where they can marriage do not have that much to say about social
turn for help in case of a proposed marriage. Unless they norms or theories of norms change, focusing instead on
have broader community engagement components, they do programmatic interventions that tend to be distributed
not explicitly promote norm change, but it could be argued across the ecological framework and are easier to measure.
that by helping girls – and boys in mixed clubs – change Some of the systematic reviews exclude programmes that
their attitudes toward child marriage, they are building a engage with norm change because their measurement
new norm in a certain cohort of the population. does not live up to their exacting methodological
standards, e.g., DISHA (Kanesathasan et al., 2008),
Finally, the reason we are not discussing some of the even though such programmes do attempt to inf luence
other well-known child marriage programmes here, such norms. More evidence is needed on the specific aspects
as Kishoree Kontha or BALIKA in Bangladesh, is that of interventions that lead to impact; in particular, we
they do not have explicit community-based norm change need to expand our understanding of how social norms
components. interact with other factors to lead to child marriage (or
not), or to produce harmful health and development
Table 1 summarises five key reviews of the recent ‘what outcomes associated with child marriage (or not). For
works’ literature on programmes to end child marriage or example, as noted above, there is significant evidence
to change the lives of girls in ways that are closely related for the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers on
to child marriage. reducing rates of child marriage in some contexts. What
does this tell us about the relative importance of social
Collectively, these reviews provide a summary of what norms and other drivers in those contexts? And how do
has been found to work. This evidence is valuable for successful interventions affect the underlying norms? Or
increasing our understanding of how and why practices do they work in spite of the normative environment?
around child marriage change, and for further developing

13
 However, the references above highlight and emphasise reap the benefits of interdisciplinary work, and build a
economic interventions as there is comparatively little better shared evidence base?
evidence available of norm-change-related interventions.
Normative interventions tend to be overlooked by many The need for more evaluations of interventions at the
of these reviews because they are not evaluated with community level and all of the work currently underway
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and are thus excluded to change norms emerges starkly from this assessment.
from consideration. Development economists have made Although community interventions were identified
important empirical and methodological contributions as the ‘least utilised’ by the programmes included in
on what interventions impact child marriage, such as the systematic reviews, this was partly because these
research related to incentives for girls continuing in reviews considered only behavioural changes rather than
school; and the use of controlled-trial designs for better changes in attitudes; longer time-horizons for evaluation
causal inference. Key questions emerging from this work are needed to assess the impact of work with families
are: How can this learning be better taken up by NGOs and communities and on social norms and to be able to
and other implementers? How can work on community measure behavioural outcomes.
and contextual factors be bridged with economic analysis,

Knowledge gaps and conclusions

Despite the flood of materials that describe, engage with alongside shorter-term attitudinal and behavioural
and try to shift gendered social norms as they relate to outcomes. The challenge is how to interest the
child marriage, a number of important gaps in our broader field in norms-related activities, even when
understanding of norms remain. they have been evaluated with methodologies other
than RCTs.
Gaps in knowledge of the impact of social-norm- •• Shorter-term markers of success. In the absence
change activities. In looking at social-norms-related, of longer-term studies, shorter-term markers of
economic and other interventions, more research norm change are needed. These might include, in
is needed to isolate their respective contributions. different contexts:
Changing social norms looks as though it could be •• Reduced sensitivity to sanctions
the most sustainable approach and might also have •• Girls having a greater say in timing of marriage or
multiplicative effects in areas of health and development choice of partner
beyond child marriage… but we don’t know for sure. •• Married girls having a greater say in marital
We need to build the evidence on the potential impact decision-making
of social norms. The struggle is methodological: •• Changes in ‘smaller’ norms related to child
documentation of norm change is more difficult than marriage – who decides, for example, if a girl must
capturing changes in attitudes or behaviours, requires marry if she is pregnant.
capturing change among multiple population groups,
and requires a longer timeframe. The kinds of evaluations Gaps in capacity to identify and weigh the norms
needed include: that relate to child marriage. As noted above, many
norms contribute to, reinforce or even undermine child
•• RCTs and quasi-experimental studies that compare marriage. In different contexts, the weight of norms
the impacts of programme ‘arms’ with and without regarding dominant male sexuality/subordinate female
a social norm intervention, such as the forthcoming sexuality may be greater or less than those regarding
CARE and Government of Ethiopia evaluation of the divorce or schooling.
Abdi Boru initiative.5
•• Longer-term interventions that incorporate norm- Gaps in knowledge of norms affecting married girls.
change activities and attempt to measure their impact Most evidence of ‘what works’ in the field is geared

5 See www.care.org/work/health/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights/what-we-do/adolescent-health/abdiboru
14
 Social and gender norms and child marriage: A reflection on issues, evidence and areas of inquiry in the field

towards identifying interventions with the potential to and mobilise resources towards changing norms and
prevent girls from marrying. Somewhat less examined the harmful practices they underpin. One example is
is the question of how to prevent some of the negative the likely protective effect of early marriage from HIV
outcomes associated with child marriage once girls are in some contexts, and the possibility that later marriage
married. Many child marriage researchers call for greater could contribute to increased HIV. Such risks need to be
efforts to mitigate the impacts of child marriage on girls honestly assessed so that programmes can be designed to
– such as enabling married girls to continue education mitigate them.
or training, increasing use of maternal and child care
among adolescents (Singh et al., 2012), mental health Some relevant questions in this vein include: If sufficient
support for child brides (Gage, 2013), and protection of economic opportunity and safety is not in place, and
women in child marriages from intimate partner violence marriage is delayed, what are the economic and social
(Kidman, 2016). However, there remains a relative dearth risks for women? Would there in fact be increased risks
of evidence around which to design such efforts and to unmarried girls in refugee populations or conf lict
greater understanding of social and gender norms might zones if early marriage were truly not an option for their
help generate policy- and practice-relevant insights. families? Do girls who delay marriage but get pregnant
lose the opportunity to marry and thereby suffer
Gaps in tools that translate social science research on economic hardship in the longer term?
norms into programmatically useful guidance.
Evaluation. A final word on evaluation: A repeated
•• Diagnostic tools for seeing whether norms are in recommendation from interviewees and a challenge
place, for example whether child marriage ref lects for interventions was the need to think more creatively
specific norms in a given social context, or whether about evaluation, to conduct more long-term evaluations,
material conditions are more important. and to include among them controlled-trial designs.
•• Monitoring and evaluation tools for establishing The social norms space is largely lacking in these kinds
baseline and impact of programmes addressing of evaluation, and often for good reason. While an
norms. education intervention, for example, can have a direct
•• Norms and agency: As we work to track norms, we and measurable impact on a girl’s schooling, norm-
must also continue to account for agency in the change interventions are far more complex. First, the time
context of normative influences. horizon must often be much longer than what is required
to change knowledge, attitudes or behaviours. Second, it
Assessment and documentation of vulnerabilities is generally necessary to work with a number of different
and risks that arise when norms/practices change. population groups to bring about shifts in norms, so
Societies and communities develop norms to assist with measurement is more challenging in that way as well. And
risk management. The fact that normative structures finally, change in a gender norm may lead to multiple
are also built to protect the power and status of their behavioural outcomes, requiring some careful decision-
builders – those who lead the communities who practice making about what makes the most sense to measure.
them – does not mean that they do not also provide
some protection for those with less power. Inherent in The evidence base relevant to incorporating social-
responsible efforts to loosen the grip of gender norms norms thinking into efforts to combat child marriage
is assessing new vulnerabilities that may arise as a spans numerous disciplines: including public health,
consequence of social change. law, political science and economics. Multiple sectors
in the international development space are producing
Our weak understanding of the repercussions of norm relevant interventions and publications on humanitarian
change plays out in the mixed effects and unintended assistance, education and economic empowerment.
consequences of child marriage initiatives. For example, But rarely do interventions weigh evidence from across
practices have both good and bad health impacts. The disciplines; and often organisational and disciplinary
modification of norms will no doubt have unintended silos prevent or slow collective learning. Development
consequences, some of them negative. This is an area economists and NGO implementers, for example,
where rigour and transparency should be encouraged. appear to be heading in different directions. There is
Despite the fact that donor-funded initiatives are loath opportunity here for synthesising work in these areas, for
to document and publicise any impacts which may engaging in more dialogue across disciplines, for aligning
have been counter to their goals, doing so is important both research aims and methodological practices to most
to our collective project of learning how best to design efficiently fill the gaps in our knowledge.

15
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