The wedding bells of war: The influence of armed conflict on child marriages in West Africa
| Published date | 01 May 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221080056 |
| Author | Matthew DiGiuseppe,Roos Haer |
| Date | 01 May 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Regular Articles |
The wedding bells of war: The influence
of armed conflict on child marriages
in West Africa
Matthew DiGiuseppe
Institute of Political Science, Leiden University
Roos Haer
Institute of Political Science, Leiden University
Abstract
Child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights. It hinders progress towards development and public
health goals. In this study, we argue that armed conflict plays an important role in the occurrence of child marriages;
it influences the supply of and demand for young brides. We argue that in conflict settings, families are more willing
to marry off their young daughters for protection. Armed conflict can also influence the demand: marriage in general
declines due to an imbalance in sex ratio. However, in cases where belligerents use war tactics specifically focused on
harming girls, such as sexual violence and girl recruitment, early marriage might increase as the result of armed
conflict. To empirically examine these linkages, we combine the Demographic and Health Surveys of West Africa
with information on the location of armed conflict. Our study shows that armed conflict generally reduces the
occurrence of child marriage with 13% to 18%. However, we observe that when conflict actors use war tactics that
specifically harm young girls there is a significant increase of 12% to 18% in the probability of a girl getting married
before the age of 18. This research has important implications for our understanding of the relationship between
armed conflict, gender inequality, and their impact on children.
Keywords
armed conflict, child marriage, early marriage, wedding, West Africa
Introduction
Child marriage, also known as early marriage, is defined
as a legal or customary union between two people where
at least one spouse is below the age of 18 (Ar ticle 1,
Convention of the Rights of the Child; OHCHR,
1989).
1
It is one of the world’s most devastating and
widespread human rights abuses, disproportionally affect-
ing young girls. Worldwide, approximately 650 million
women alive today were married before their 18th birth-
day and 25 million enteredinto union before the age of 15
(United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2014,
2018). Child marriage often compromises a girl’s devel-
opment by causing early pregnancy and social isolation,
interrupting her schooling, and limiting her opportunities
for career and vocational advancement (UNICEF, 2020).
It is then no surprise that the Sustainable Development
Goals explicitly called for the elimination of child, early,
and forced marriage (UN, 2015).
While the academic research on this phenomenon is
growing, most of the literature on the drivers of child
Corresponding author:
R.van.der.Haer@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
1
This definition defines a child as any person below 18 years of age.
We recognize, however, the e xisting debates on the definit ion of
childhood and its cultural applicability. Despite these debates, each
country under study, apart from Ghana, has no clearly stated
minimum age of marriage (see, for more information, World Policy
Center, 2019).
Journal of Peace Research
2023, Vol. 60(3) 474–488
ªThe Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221080056
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