Children Wives: Level, Risk and Factors Associated with Early Marriage of Girls in Burkina Faso

Bilampoa Gnoumou Thiombiano, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo
Idrissa Kaboré, Institut Superieur des Sciences de la Population (Burkina Faso)

Early marriage is recognized as a violation of children's fundamental rights. The consensus is that children, being incapable of giving their free and full consent to marriage, should not be allowed to marry. International laws prescribe the minimum age of marriage at 18, but this is not the case in many countries such as Burkina Faso. This country has been going through a multidimensional crisis (security, humanitarian, socio-political) since 2016, and this situation could increase the risk of early marriage, especially for girls. Some parents may see insecurity as an additional reason to marry their young daughters in order to "protect" them. This research aims to measure the extent and risk of early marriage in Burkina Faso and to identify the factors associated with it, based on quantitative data from a biographical survey conducted in 2022 in three regions of Burkina Faso, and to analyze its consequences based on qualitative data. The results show that 38.8% of women aged 18 to 49 have experienced early marriage and the risk increases with the age of the woman. The factors associated with early marriage of girls are socio-cultural, demographic and economic.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Families, Unions and Households, Gender Dynamics

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