One Girl Under 15 Married Every Seconds

One girl under 15 is married every seven seconds, according to a report by Save the Children released on Tuesday, with girls as young as 10 married off – often too much older men – in countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, India and Somalia.

A new report released today by Save the Children, Every Last Girl: Free to live, free to learn, free from harm, has ranked countries in an index from the best to worst country in which to be a girl, based on child marriage, schooling, teen pregnancy, maternal deaths and number of female representatives in national government.

Countries at the bottom of the index include Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali and Somalia, many of which have high rates of child marriage. Countries at the top include Sweden, Finland, Norway, Netherlands and Belgium.

Countries at the bottom of the index include Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali and Somalia, many of which have high rates of child marriage. Countries at the top include Sweden, Finland, Norway, Netherlands and Belgium.

The report says girls affected by conflict are more likely to become child brides.

It says many refugee families marry off their daughters as a way to protect them against poverty or sexual exploitation.

The charity used the example of a 13-year-old Syrian refugee in Lebanon it called Sahar – not her real name – who was married to a 20-year-old man. Now 14, she is two months pregnant.

“The wedding day, I was imagining it would be a great day but it wasn’t. It was all misery. It was full of sadness,” Save the Children quoted her as saying.

“I feel really blessed that I am having a baby. But I am a child raising a child.”

The report says girls also suffer during humanitarian crises such as the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone where the shutting down of schools led to an estimated 14,000 teen pregnancies.

According to Telegraph, a new ranking of 144 countries based on an analysis of issues that affect girls and young women has put Sweden at the top of the list and Niger at the bottom.

The UK comes in at number 15, falling behind other Scandinavian countries Finland, Norway and Denmark along with Slovenia, Spain and Italy.

The new index compiled by Save the Children for the International Day of the Girl on 11th October and based on 2015 figures, ranked countries according to levels of schooling for girls, rates of child marriage, teen pregnancy, maternal deaths and the percentage of female MPs.