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child and forced marriage: the challenge

For refugees who have relocated after marrying young, the lack of English skills is their biggest barrier. Child brides often have been pulled out of education in order to fulfil their domestic role. When these women enter their host countries, they are unequipped to ask for even the most basic help in English or in the dominant language of their resettlement country. So, if they or their children are having emergencies, they cannot communicate this. They are also unable to speak to doctors about their needs, e.g ask for contraception. These refugees need to learn the basics of the native language in order to survive but this is not possible if they remain isolated, as many do. This is one of the issues that is heavily focused upon within various reports on the experience of girls within a refugee crisis. Many of these marriages happen in order to help the girl's family financially or because of cultural expectations. According to NCR Online, 1 in 7 girls in developing countries are married before their 15th birthday.


There are also economic problems caused by child marriage, as these girls often are unable to work due to a lack of childcare and cultural tradition. Within Jordan, where child marriage rate have tripled since 2011, the infants being born from such marriages are at increased risk due to the couple not having access to medical care of vaccinations. The lack of contraception used by these couples also puts them at risk of STI's- contraception may not be used for cultural reasons or due to availability.


The girls are at an increased risk of domestic violence, with many women who have experienced child marriage claiming that they were abused by their husband.

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