The Gendered Interpretation of Child Marriage: A Niger Case Study

Author

Melissa Safi, CUNY City CollegeFollow

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Department

International Relations

First Advisor

Bruce Cronin

Second Advisor

Jean Krasno

Keywords

child bride, child marriage, Niger, gender, social norms

Abstract

This paper seeks to answer the question, what is the primary factor driving child marriage? I explore the literature in several scholarly articles that explain why the harmful, traditional practice of child marriage is an issue that predominantly affects girls globally. I also utilize the feminist theory of international relations to support my analysis of child marriage as a gender issue. Incorporating evidence from annual international reports, scholarly articles, and mixed methods studies, this paper examines a case study of Niger, where child marriage affects more than half the population of girls under the age of 18. In studying Niger, I use a a gendered analysis to examine the drivers of child marriage such as cultural practices/ societal norms, religious beliefs, educational gaps, and poverty to argue that child marriage must be studied through a gendered perspective rather than an economic one to achieve viable international policy implications. Concluding this paper, it is proven that Nigerien girls’ are married young more so due to their gender.

Recommended Citation

Safi, Melissa, "The Gendered Interpretation of Child Marriage: A Niger Case Study" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1112