Essentially, it is both a human rights and public ... Mali reported that 18 years and above is the ideal ... of marriage, the Child Rights Act of 2003 sets the.
DOI: 10.21276/aimdr.2017.3.5.CM2
ISSN (O):2395-2822; ISSN (P):2395-2814
Perception and Factors Influencing Early Marriage in a Semi-Urban Community of Sokoto State, North-West Nigeria. Adamu H1, Yusuf A2, Tunau K3, Yahaya M1 1
Department of Community Health, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria College of Health Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria 2
Received: October 2016 Accepted: July 2017 Copyright:© the author(s), publisher. Annals of International Medical and Dental Research (AIMDR) is an Official Publication of “Society for Health Care & Research Development”. It is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Most communities have a minimum age set for marriage, and in many of these communities the age is too low, especially for girls. This study assessed the perception and factors influencing early marriage in a semi-urban community of Sokoto state, Nigeria. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study that surveyed heads of households within Illela LGA of Sokoto state who have given out at least one girl for marriage. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 60 participants and data was sought using semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS version 20 and Ms Excel 2007. Results: The mean age of respondents was 48 years ±9, about 88% were of the Hausa/Fulani tribe and 96.7% were Muslims. Up to 61.7% of them perceive early marriage as a good practice. About 97% reported early marriage as a common practice in the area and more than 68% of them had given out at least one girl for marriage before the age of 18 years. Their major reasons for practicing early marriage were religious belief and prevention of sexual promiscuity. Complications due to early marriage were reported by 16.7% of the respondents and about 70% of the complications were said to be prolonged obstructed labour. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents considered early marriage a good practice. Religious belief and prevention of sexual promiscuity were the driving force behind its practice. Creating awareness among parents and educating the girl child will help in reducing hazards associated with it. Keywords: Early marriage, Perception, Factors influencing, Sokoto.
INTRODUCTION In most societies, marriage marks the point in a woman’s life when childbearing first becomes socially acceptable. Women who marry early will, on average, have longer exposure to pregnancy and a greater number of lifetime births. Marriage is a social activity entered into through a public act, religious or traditional ceremony and it reflects the purpose, character, and customs of the society in which it is found.[1] It unites people in a special form of mutual dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. Many societies have norms that limit the age of young girls to enter into marriage, but in some cases the age limit does not take into consideration their physiological and psychological readiness for childbearing.[1] Name & Address of Corresponding Author Dr. Adamu H Department of Community Health, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.
Early marriage is a traditional practice that may predisposes girls to sexual relationship and early childbearing with an older spouse, thus adversely affecting girls’ health, and general development.[2] Early marriage may also increase girls’ vulnerability to other forms of violence within the home. Essentially, it is both a human rights and public health problem. Early marriage is now widely recognized as a violation of children's rights, a direct form of discrimination against the girl child who as a result of the practice is often deprived of her basic rights to health, education, development and equality.[2] Most countries, including Nigeria, have declared 18 years as the minimum legal age of marriage.[3] Despite the sanctions on child marriage however, more than 100 million girls are expected to marry in the next decade.[4] Up to 700 million women alive today (roughly 10% of the world’s population) were married before their 18th birthday; and more than one in three (about 250 million) were married before the age of 15, reveals new UNICEF data on child marriage.[3] The extent of early marriage varies between countries and regions.[5] In Latin America and the
Annals of International Medical and Dental Research, Vol (3), Issue (5)
Page 6
Section: Community Medicine
Original Article
Carribean, 29% of young women were married by age of 18 years.[6] In Southern Asia 48% (nearly 10 million) of young women were married before the age of 18 years. In India, almost half (44.5%) of women aged 20-24 years got married before they reach eighteen years.[7] In Bangladesh, 45% of young women between 25 and 29 years were married between the age of 10 and 14 years.[6] Studies have shown that approximately half of Yemeni girls are married before 18 years of age, while some as young as eight years.[8] According to International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), in Niger, Chad and Mali, more than 70% of girls are married off before 18 years of age.[9] In Tanzania, 5.3% of the respondents said early marriage is below 14 years and 44.4% said it is below 18 years of age.[9] In Mali 42.5% and 41.1% of respondents said that marriage is not early if the girl has started menstruating and she is physically grown.[10] About 7.2% of respondents in a study in Mali reported that 18 years and above is the ideal age for marriage for girls.[10] While the practice has decreased globally over the last 30 years, it remains common in rural areas and especially in northern Nigeria. Forty three percent of girls are married off before their 18th birthday, 17% are married before they turn 15. There is wide variation in the prevalence of early marriage from one region to another, with the northwest having the highest prevalence (76%) and the southeast having the lowest (10%).[3] In Nigeria, early marriage is driven by factors such as poverty, poor educational attainment and strong social and religious factors. Education has an inverse relationship with early marriage; up to 82% of women with no education were married before 18 years of age, as opposed to 13% of women who had at least finished secondary education.[3] Even though the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria did not establish a minimum age of marriage, the Child Rights Act of 2003 sets the age of marriage at 18 years. However, only 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states have taken concrete steps to implement the minimum age of marriage. As a result, in some parts of Nigeria, the minimum age of marriage can be as low as 12 years old.[3] Early marriage is associated with a lot of medical, psychological and socio-economic consequences on the girl child and indeed her family. It is related to poverty and early pregnancy. During pregnancy, maternal malnutrition, anemia, poor antenatal care attendance and eclampsia are likely to occur. Deliveries are mainly unsupervised and prolonged obstructed labour frequently ensues. Complications like development of vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) and foot drop are commonly seen. In addition to all these the girls may end up as school dropouts divorced and ostracized.[11] Despite these problems early marriage remains high, especially in the northern part of Nigeria. This study therefore, looked
at early marriage from the perspective of male parents, with respect to their perception and possible factors influencing their practice.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The study was conducted in Illela local government area (LGA) of Sokoto state, noth-west Nigeria. The LGA, which is about 84km north of the state capital has an estimated population of about 186,606, with male:female ratio slightly in favour of males. Majority of its occupants are Hausa/Fulani and Islam is their predominant religion.[12] Study population The study population consisted of heads of households in Illela LGA. Inclusion criteria Household heads that have given out at least one girl out for marriage Study design It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Sample size determination Sample size was estimated using the formula for sample size estimation for descriptive studies (n=Z2pq/d2).[13] Using 3.2% prevalence as reported in a previous study,[14] a sample size of 49 was obtained. A response rate of 80% was anticipated, thus the sample size was adjusted to 60. Sampling technique Multistage sampling technique was used as follows: Selection of one ward out of the ten political wards in Illela LGA by simple random sampling technique (by balloting). From the selected ward, 3 settlements were selected by systematic sampling technique (k=5) and from each of the selected settlements, 20 households were selected also using systematic sampling technique. Data collection A semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used in data collection. The questionnaire sought information on respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, perception and practice of early marriage. The questionnaire was pre-tested and validated following a pilot survey conducted in Kalambaina town, in Wamakko LGA of Sokoto state. Six research assistants (medical students) who were trained on the process of data collection assisted in the collection of data. Data analysis The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 and Ms Excel 2007. For continuous variables, mean and standard deviation were calculated and for categorical variables, frequency and percentage were calculated. Chi-square was used to determine the association between categorical variables and the level of statistical significance was set at 5% (P20 years Type of family Monogamous Polygamous Who decides when a girl should marry? Parents alone Other relations
Early marriage (
