More than 700 million women in the world today were married before their 18th birthday and one in three of those women was married before age 15. Child marriage can trigger a cycle of disadvantage across every part of a girl’s life.
Maternal mortality is the second leading cause of death for adolescent girls aged 15–19 years old (after suicide). An estimated 70,000 adolescent girls die each year from complications during pregnancy or childbirth. Every year 2.5 million girls under 16 give birth.
Aside from child marriage and inadequate sexual and reproductive helath care, this report highlights further barriers to girls’ equality, including gender-based violence, trafficking, economic exclusion when household resources are limited and boys are prioritised, education and learning gaps, and gender issues arising from conflict and disasters.
This report identifies the three specific Guarantees to Girls that governments must make – fair finance, equal treatment and accountability – that governments must make to reach excluded children.