Child marriage revived across Asia and Africa as pandemic deepens poverty

Many countries had made progress against traditional and transactional marriages of girls in recent decades, but the economic havoc amid COVID-19 has caused significant backsliding. The United Nations estimates that hardships resulting from COVID-19 will drive 13 million more girls to marry before the age of 18. Though most such marriages take place in secret, Save the Children estimates that this year alone nearly half a million more girls under 18 are at risk of being married off worldwide — most in Africa and Asia, but also in the Middle East. One aid organization said staffers in a remote corner of Sierra Leone overheard a relative offering up a girl as young as 8 for marriage earlier this year. When chastised, the grandmother later denied doing so.