Ending the Curse of Child Brides, One $25 Goat at a Time

After an unforgivably long time, the revolutionary idea that girls should get the same education as boys seems to be gaining acceptance. What’s surprising, then, is that one of the great impediments to keeping girls in school -- particularly girls in the developing world -- remains largely unremarked upon and unaddressed. By this we mean the stubborn persistence of child marriage.

Child brides remain alarmingly common. An estimated 10 million marriages occur worldwide each year in which at least one spouse, usually the female, is younger than 18. In 16 countries, half of girls marry by that age. West Africa has the highest incidence of child marriage, South Asia the largest numbers. In many places, brides are preposterously young. In Niger, 36 percent of girls are wed before turning 15.