How they see it

Young Women's Views on Early Marriage in a Post-Conflict Setting

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3972165
AutoresSonya Em Knox (Social Development Consultant, Ibtikar Research & Consulting, s.a.l., Beirut, Lebanon., autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen25
Númerosup1
Páginas96-106
Fecha de publicación2017-10-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReproductive Health Matters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0968-8080 • E-ISSN: 1460-9576
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09688080.2017.1383738
PMID29120291
OpenAlexW2768026043
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas15

Current understandings of early marriage in conflict and post-conflict settings are incomplete and under-researched, and do not sufficiently take into consideration the views and experiences of adolescent girls. While much of the literature, development reports and mainstream media emphasise the poverty, health risks and lack of agency of young women married early, they seldom provide these teenagers an open platform from which to speak. In 2007, a Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon was destroyed and its residents forced to flee. Returning families experienced extreme hardships and a military cordon. Through ethnographic research undertaken in the camp a year later with adolescent girls in or en route to an early marriage, their mothers and NGO community workers, I explored decision-making processes leading to an early marriage and adolescent brides' assessments of married life. The decision to enter an early marriage, neither unilateral nor imposed, was instead described as an assessment of numerous factors, including economic hardships, insecurity and loneliness, many arising as a result of the conflict. Findings of this study challenge common understandings of early marriage - both the decision and its consequences - and call for greater nuance in designing interventions. These findings are particularly pertinent amid sensationalised media reports of early marriage in Syrian refugee communities; presenting girls in early marriages as victims garners international attention, but is not necessarily an accurate reflection of these girls' own understandings of their situation

Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Gender Studies · Global Maternal and Child Health · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Social Psychology