Early childhood is a critical period in a child's development. Poor conditions early in life affect not only children’s physical growth, but also their brain development and capabilities, with lasting consequences in adulthood. A child’s family is the first and most important support system...

Issues related to Islamic law, women's rights, and state law have long been and remain deeply contested. This is most evident in debates around family law reform in majority Muslim countries. As one recent example, in Mali, a secular state according to its Constitution, the National Assembly...

This article has two main objectives. First, it provides an account of trends in child marriage in Africa and a brief analysis of the statistical association between child marriage and faith affiliation. Second, it cautions against broad generalizations about child marriage and faith...

Nguyen and Wodon suggest that better measurement of child marriage can be obtained by adopting the techniques used for the measurement of poverty. The objective of this article is to use that approach to provide estimates of global and regional trends over time in the extent of child marriage -...

Child marriage is a widespread violation of human rights. It is an impediment to social and economic development, and it is rooted in gender inequality. The low value placed on girls and women perpetuates the act and acceptability of child marriage in societies where the practice is common....

Child marriage, defined as marrying before the age of 18, is a practice that affects mostly girls and often leads to violations of human rights for the girls who have to marry early. UNICEF estimates that 140 million girls will marry early in the next decade or up to 40,000 per day. Especially...