KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Saturday that around 12 million girls worldwide are married before the age of 18 each year, calling the practice a human rights violation that requires urgent action.
In a statement, UNFPA said an estimated 640 million women and girls alive today were married during childhood. The agency noted that, on average, an adolescent girl enters into marriage every three seconds somewhere in the world.
“Child marriage is a human rights violation,” UNFPA said, adding that the practice remains widespread despite legal bans in many countries.
The agency highlighted the health risks associated with early marriage. Girls who marry as children are more likely to become pregnant during adolescence, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. These complications are among the leading causes of death for older adolescent girls worldwide.
UNFPA also warned that girls married in childhood face higher risks of physical and sexual violence from intimate partners and are more vulnerable to long-term social and economic exclusion.
UNFPA said it is working with governments and partners to implement effective laws and programs and to support girls’ rights so that they can remain healthy, educated, and safe and achieve long-term wellbeing.
The issue has worsened in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in 2021, with rights groups linking rises in child and early marriages to deepening poverty and severe restrictions on women and girls, especially the ban on secondary and higher education.
In 2024, UN Women reported that restrictions on girls’ education contributed to a 25% increase in child marriages and a 45% rise in childbearing across Afghanistan.
Rights groups have repeatedly urged international action, warning that child marriage has long-term consequences for girls’ mental, physical, and social well-being. They say girls forced into early marriages often face early pregnancies, domestic abuse, and limited access to education and healthcare.
