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. These
unions produce a host of social ills. Younger brides become
pregnant at younger ages, often before their bodies fully
mature, putting mother and child at risk. In the developing
world, a baby born to a mother under 20 is 5