Penn – UNICEF Summer Program on
Advances in Social Norms and Social Change
“Early and Forced Marriages in Afghanistan”
By Gopal Sharma
1. Introduction
Early and forced marriages are still prevalent in Afghanistan and also justified by
certain interpretations of Islamic texts and traditions. A significant portion of rural girls
marry young due to cultural and religious beliefs and poverty, which is detrimental to
their health and development. It subjects them to pregnancy and childbirth before
they have reached physical maturity, a circumstance that often produces serious
physical trauma, psychological disturbance, and sometimes lifelong physical and/or
emotional incapacities.
Reports by non-governmental organizations such as Medica Mondiale and UNICEF
describe 57% of Afghan girls are forced to marry before the age of eighteen.
Pregnancies of under eighteen years girls are relatively common in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has the second-highest maternal mortality ratio in the world (1,600 per
100,000 live births). Infant and under-five mortality are also high, at 129 per 1,000
live births and 257 per 1,000 live births, respectively.
In Afghanistan marriage is regulated by civil law, various interpretations of Shariah
law, and traditional and customary practices. Civil law sets the minimum marriage
age for females at 16, but it permits a father to marry his daughter at age of 15, if he
so chooses. Shariah law sets the minimum age for females at 15. Customary
practices approve marriage at earlier ages. In the legal system Civil law takes
precedence over both Shariah law and customary practice and civil law is enforced
in case of any contradiction. The Shariah law is applied only in matters not
specifically set forth in the civil codes.
To respond to the issues relating to early and forced marriages UNICEF Afghanistan
office has been working with the government and NGOS on the abandonment of
child marriage. This is done through supporting the government to develop laws and
policies to protect children. UNICEF has facilitated the establishment of Child
Protection Action Networks (CPAN) in 2007; some communities have begun
reporting child marriage, which is facilitating advocacy and prevention against the
practice, as well as action, in some cases, taken to cancel marriages. Youth
Information and Contact Centers (YICC) have also been used for raising awareness
against this practice.
Family honour and social expectations play a powerful role in perpetuating early
marriages, making it difficult for individual families as well as individual girls to
abandon on their own. Even when parents recognize that early marriage can cause
serious harm, but they believe it a lesser harm than the social sanctions and moral
judgments that would be directed at the girl and her family if they were to refuse to
undertake it. The principle motivating force behind the practice, therefore, is the
desire to protect girls and to give them the best possible chance to have a proper
future. Husband’s motivations for young girls are primarily their preference for young
girls and getting married as it is not always possible to get married at an older age.
The issue of early marriage in Afghanistan is similar to some extent to the case study
of Kishori Abhijan project on the “empowerment of Adolescents” in Bangladesh. The
situation of girls in this case study to a large extent be compared to the current
situation of girls in Afghanistan. Girls in both countries are likely to be pulled into
underage marriage through arranged relationships and dowry practices. Girls are
usually either not sent to school or are withdrawn from schools to be married.
This paper is a preliminary examination of some of the dimensions of causes of child
marriage in Afghanistan and its consequences. It will also help promote such efforts
to bring child marriage to an end, and so ensure that a greater proportion of Afghan
girls have their basic rights respected.
2. Impact of early marriages
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) annual report on
the status of human rights in Afghanistan indicates that runaways; suicides; selfimmolations; murders; sexual perversions; and psychological disorders are amongst
the many negative consequences of child marriage. These also include the increase
of maternal and child mortality rates, and the low level of education for women which
has a long term effect on the role these play in the country’s political, social, and
economic life. According to a United Nations Children’s Fund (“UNICEF”) report, girls
who marry during their childhood do not develop properly, neither physically nor
psychologically. They are frequently denied access to education and are subject to
different types of diseases arising from abnormal births and isolation.
Child marriage also has negative consequences from a physiological point of view. A
child who marries before puberty will face severe health problems. In addition,
because of the lack of awareness of both or one of the parties, child marriages result
in the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases. Sociologically, a girl who marries
before eighteen loses her chances to obtain a higher level of education. Her access
to social and vocational successes is jeopardized and the role and contribution of
women in the society’s progress is diminished. Illiteracy amongst women and low
enrolment level of girls in the schools and universities are the results of child
marriages. In addition to the direct consequences on the woman’s situation, child
marriage is also a threat to her family’s health and development. A child bride is
unable to face her responsibilities and properly raise her children. In addition, she
will not be able take care of her own health, because she is in an age at which others
should pay attention to her and take care of her health.
Child marriage is the cause of obstetric, physical, and psychological diseases and
disorders in women but also carries consequences on their children. Most of the girls
who are forced to childhood marriages face domestic violence and deprived of their
right to continue their education and work.
3. Cause of early and forced marriages in Afghanistan
A variety of factors may lead to early and forced marriage.
Parents:

The major factors for father’s decision of early marriages of his daughters are
due to social pressures, financial problems/financial gains, honor and
prestige, etc. Particularly in the rural areas and parents being illiterate they
think that it would be better for them to marry their daughters at an early age
which will be in line with current social norms. People think it would be easier
to marry their daughter young and would be very difficult to marry at an older
age. So the parents also feel that if they do not marry their daughter early this
would imply a set back to their honour and prestige in the society as they
could not marry their daughter at an age which the society recognizes as
appropriate though against the law of the land. The parents face a situation of
social dilemma which makes them to prefer for early marriage of their
daughter as marrying their daughter at an older age would be very difficult.

Sometimes, parents are made to marry their child daughters to repay their
outstanding debts. This illustrates the weakness of the dominant social
system and the government’s inability to implement the rule of law and to
bring social welfare.

Influence and power of husbands is another reason for early and forced
marriages of girls. This reason for early marriage is driven by social pressure
and coercion. They feel if they do not marry their daughter they will miss the
opportunity which will position them in a better place after the marriage. This
at times results into marrying their daughter to much older man. The parents
think that this marriage will be good for them and for their daughter though
this is worse for their daughter and against the law.
Brides: Young girls do not have any say as they are under social pressures from
their parents and family. Even against their wishes they are married forcefully and at
times these girls try to run away which increases the risk to their life. Social norms
and sometime law also go against them. These girls are mostly illiterate and find
themselves under social dilemma of staying under forced marriage or runaway and
risk their life. Older girls are less marketable
Grooms: The social norms go in favour of grooms as it is accepted in society and
law also supports them once they are married. There are no social sanctions against
the grooms after the marriage with a younger girl. Men marrying younger girls give
them social status and brings them honour and prestige. Another wrong presumption
is that the older girls may not be virgin. The educated girls are better placed to resist
social pressures and resulting exploitation of early marriages.
4. Understanding some theoretical analysis of early marriages
We need to understand what motivates the people in Afghanistan to follow early
marriages. “The very existence of a social norm depends on a sufficient number of
people believing that it exists and pertains to a given type of situation, and expecting
that enough other people are following it in those kinds of situation” (Bicchieri 2006).
The people mainly illiterate and in rural areas of Afghanistan have conditional
preferences for obeying this norm of early marriage having expectations about other
people’s conformity. Such expectations and preferences result in collective
behaviours that further promotes follow up of early marriages.
To apply social dilemma theory to early child marriage an initial assumption is
necessary –– that parents care about their children and ultimately want to do what’s
best for them. In a community where nearly all girls married early, families choose to
marry their daughters early to ensure the social status of the family. If, on the other
hand, parents break with social expectations, their daughters will not marry, and
families will be rejected by their communities. Under these conditions, early marriage
is perceived as the best choice to ensure their daughters have a positive future. The
social convention theory explains not only why daughters and their parents continue
to choose early marriage but also why it is so difficult for individual girls or families
not to marry early on their own. Families will end early marriage of their daughters
only when they believe that most or all others will make the same choice at the same
time.
A moral norm is a general rule personally motivated, such as to be a good parent, or
to do no harm. It is commonly found across different groups and endures over time,
but it is often implemented in different ways according to the particular
circumstances. The moral norm, “do what is best for your child,” motivates families in
some social contexts to marry their daughters early. However, once an alternative
becomes possible within a community and people realize that the community might
be better off jointly abandoning this practice, it is this basic value – to do what is best
for their children – that also motivates communities to abandon the practice. When
provided with credible new information and with the opportunity to reflect upon it
together, families choose to change their practices in order to realize their basic
values more coherently and more fully.
5.
Programmatic response to early and forced marriages
An insight into the theory of norms will help to prepare a programmatic response to
this bad social norm of early and forced marriages in Afghanistan. There is a need of
holistic approach which includes a study of when and why the people in Afghanistan
follow early marriage and what prevents this social norm being followed.
Understanding of how to move away from this bad social norm we have to know
what makes people obey it, and under which conditions they will disobey or even
abandon this norm. We need to determine which beliefs are consistent with
behaviours of each duty bearer involved in early marriages and what are the
conditions for this social norm to exist.
The practice of early marriage is followed in Afghanistan as a sufficiently large
number of individuals, empirical and normative expectations (as analyzed and
discussed above) are met and, as a result such individuals prefer to marry their
daughter early.
UNICEF Afghanistan needs to continue its efforts to prevent early and forced
marriages through reinforcing the promotion of girls’ education. A project similar to
Kishori Abhijan project may also be considered for promoting the rights of adolescent
girls and combating rights violations such as child marriage and dowry.
Legal and Policy Framework:
Legislation and enforcement
The Government of Afghanistan needs to establish 18-year as the legal age of
marriage for girls instead of sixteen years, and ensure its implementation through
review of (civil law and customary law) and reform of legal and policy framework for
provision of strict legal sanctions against the offenders. Promotion of birth and
marriage registration will help enforce these laws. As there is wide spread confusion
around the legal age of marriage and knowledge of legal sanctions against violations
of marriage age it would be important to raise awareness on the laws and policies,
rights of the girls and boys. Increased awareness can motivate the communities to
abandon the practice.
Government commitment and capacity
To address this problem of early and forced marriages, the role of government and
civil-society institutions is to develop and implement systems to prevent or
discourage this practice. As child marriage is closely associated with poverty, the
government commitment to poverty reduction is likely to lead to a decrease in child
marriages.
Social change:
Attitudes, customs and practices
We need to understand the attitudes, customs and practices through increased
understanding of the networks in Afghanistan. Abandoning early and forced marriage
is challenging because even parents who understand its negative impact may find it
hard to resist economic and societal pressures and traditions. Addressing social
attitudes and customs that promote or condone the practice is vital to changing the
acceptable age for marriage.
Open discussion and debates on early marriages
UNICEF continues to promote communication campaigns which can help facilitate
discussions on traditional beliefs about marriage and examine underlying empirical
and normative expectations. These debates may help to foster behavioural change
from within communities through emphasizing human rights.
Reinforce children’s life skills, knowledge and participation
UNICEF needs to reinforce children’s knowledge and empowerment particularly for
girls. Educated girls are less likely to agree to marry at a young age. UNICEF needs
to further strengthen its efforts to close gender gaps in education including
establishment of child-friendly schools, and the expansion of non-formal education.
Develop capacity of families and communities
Special efforts are necessary to develop the capacity of families and communities in
collaboration with community-level organizations and NGOs. The capacity building of
families and communities can create dynamics leading to a change in customs,
hierarchies and prejudices linked to the tradition of child marriage.
Provision of essential services (including prevention, recovery and
reintegration)
It is important to promote preventive services against abuse and exploitation.
UNICEF may consider to further support through CPAN recovery and reintegration
for young girls who run away from early and forced marriages.
Moral values and relationships
We need to enrich our understanding of relationships and kinds of relationship.
Individuals are connected through relationships and form multiple networks. The
network thinking can help us uncover the relevant population of individuals whose
expectations drive the social norm of early marriage. Through networks we may
reinforce positive moral values relating to marriages at appropriate age. We may
generate debates through elders, religious leaders and opinion makers at community
level to convince people to abandon this practice and reinforce moral sanctions
against early marriages.
6. Conclusion
Early and forced marriages in Afghanistan are serious child rights violations and
need to be tackled though in-depth study of the moral, social and legal norms
promoting these practices. Focused programmatic response need to be
implemented by reinforcing interventions for social change which will address these
child rights violations in a sustainable manner at community level through ownership
of elders, religious/community leaders, and public opinion makers and by
strengthening regulatory mechanism (which include legal, social, and moral norms).