Our research offers both reviews of the global knowledge around child marriage and informal unions between girls and boys/men in the Global South with a focus on male engagement, as well as country-specific studies focused on the practice in selected countries. Building on existing evidence, we have also developed with partners gender-transformative group education tools to work with fathers and younger men on the prevention of the practice.
Our first evidence review from 2015 explores how unequal gender norms uphold this practice and through program examples identifies the ways men and boys are helping to prevent child marriage and mitigate its consequences. Community norms around gender and age inequality, the low value of girls and women, and acceptance of patriarchy and male sexual entitlement to females lie at the root of child marriage.
Our latest evidence review from 2023 lays out the case for including boys in efforts to promote gender equality and prevent child marriage. It also presents a review of existing interventions, analyzing strengths and gaps, to provide guidance for practitioners who intend to work at the intersection of boyhood programming and child marriage prevention and response.
Research Reports
Research Reports
Research Reports
Research Reports
This manual was developed as part of a collaboration between World Vision and Equimundo in response to harmful societal and cultural practices that support the continuation of child marriage in India. This tool is designed to provide a safe and constructive space for men, their partners and their daughters to critically reflect on the cultural and gender norms that perpetuate the devaluation of girls and serve as obstacles to men’s participation as involved fathers.
Equimundo is proud to be part of the Sexuality Working Group. Its flagship report, Tackling the Taboo: Sexuality and gender-transformative programmes to end child, early, and forced marriage and unions, analyzes the work of 23 organizations addressing control of sexuality as a driver of child, early, and forced marriages and unions. The report describes 10 promising practices in implementing gender-transformative programs to prevent CEFMU and offers recommendations for programmers, researchers, advocates, and funders on how we can all address patriarchal control of adolescent girls’ sexuality in the fight against CEFMU.
In this webinar, experts highlighted evidence that working only with girls to end child marriage is not enough to end the practice. Many boys and young men too face pressures to marry early, or to marry girls who are children, and play a key role in embodying and reproducing harmful gender norms that drive child marriage.
Margaret Greene, Equimundo Senior Fellow and Director of GreeneWorks, moderated a discussion with panelists including Jean Casey: Girls Not Brides; Jeff Edmeades: Demographic and Health Surveys Program; Colleen Murray Gastón: UNICEF; José-Roberto Luna Manzanero: UNFPA; and Julie Rialet; Equimundo Consultant.
For further information about our work on child marriage prevention, please reach out to our Deputy CEO, Giovanna Lauro.