New family planning laws to combat the problem
According to a report by the humanitarian organisation World Vision, the number of child brides will double in the next decade to 100 million. This potentially puts many at risk from HIV and other health and social problems.. An estimated 3,500 girls marry each day before their 15th birthday, and the global food crisis is making matters worse, as families in developing countries push their girls in to marriage as a way of dealing with poverty. Kati Whitaker recently returned from Ethiopia where the government has just introduced new family planning laws including a law against marriage under 18. However, she discovered that, in some parts, early marriage is still rife.
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