Child Marriage: Knowledge, practice and its attributed consequences among early married women in Jumla, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Child marriage is a clear violation of international laws. In Nepal, child marriage is illegal since 1963. The current law sets the minimum age of marriage as 20 years for both men and women but can marry after 18 years old with parental consent. Objectives: The study aimed to identify the knowledge, practices and the consequences faced by the early married women of 15-25 years in Jumla, Nepal. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Jumla among women aged between 15-25 years who were married at ≤18 years old. The study was conducted from April to September 2017. Convenient sampling method was used to select a total of 160 participants. Data were collected using semi-structure questionnaire and then analyzed using SPSS version 20, MSExcel and MS-Word 2007.Results: 73% of women have heard about child marriage among which only 31% have knew about legal age of marriage in Nepal. Majority of the female (60%) decided themselves for their marriage. 76% of the early married mothers had withdrawn their education, 31% of mothers have their health condition declined due to work load and child birth. Violence of any or all kinds (physical or sexual, mental and verbal) by in law or husband was experienced by 33% of women. Conclusion: The study concludes that the prevalence of child marriage is still common in Jumla Nepal. Knowledge about legal age at marriage among women in this study group is low which calls for joint action from all level against it in order to stop child marriage.