| Summary: | One out of two girls in Malawi will be married by her eighteenth birthday. Some are as young as 9 or 10 when they are married. Child marriage violates the rights of girls and women. It increases Malawi's high levels of poverty, illiteracy, and maternal mortality. It widens marked gender gaps in education. Many Malawian families see marriage as a way to improve their economic status, sometimes through payment of a dowry, or through continued support by their daughter's husband. Child marriage is also deeply entrenched in Malawi's traditions and patriarchal culture. This report, based on in-depth interviews with 80 girls and women in six districts in Malawi, examines how child marriage negatively shapes the experiences, status, and security of Malawian girls and women, and limits their development. It shows how the practice violates their rights to health and education, freedom from physical, mental, and sexual violence, and their right to marry only when they can give their free and full consent. Human Rights Watch recommends the Malawian government adopt a comprehensive approach to child marriage. This should include legal reforms and programmatic initiatives that effectively address the causes and consequences of child marriage, as well as protection for girls and women who seek redress through the justice system. Reforms are urgently needed to reduce the far-reaching harms of child marriage and its negative implications for Malawi's future development.
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