Drivers of child marriage in specific settings of Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia - findings from the Yes I Do! baseline study.

BACKGROUND: Child marriage persists in many countries and has severe impacts on health, education, economic and social status of girls. Child marriage has many interlinked causes. This study aimed to explore the drivers of child marriage in specific contexts in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. METHODS: The study combined a household survey among youth (15-24 years) with focus group discussions and interviews conducted with youth (15-24 years) and parents. A variety of community stakeholders were interviewed as well. Logistic regression was done to explore associations between individual and family-level characteristics of young women and the occurrence of child marriage. Transcripts were analysed using an inductive approach. Narratives on the main drivers of child marriage across study contexts were written and inspired by the theory of normative spectrum. RESULTS: A lack of education was associated with the occurrence of child marriage in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia. In all countries, teenage pregnancy was associated with child marriage. In Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique, fathers' education seemed a protective factor for child marriage. Narratives of study participants showed that in Ethiopia, Indonesia and (to a lesser extent) Kenya, child marriage was perceived as an 'appropriate practice' to avoid premarital sex or pregnancy, whether it involved sex with or without consent. In all countries, child marriage was driven by difficult economic circumstances, which were often intertwined with disapproved social circumstances, in particular teenage pregnancy, in case of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. These circumstances made child marriage an 'acceptable practice'. Some youth, particularly in Indonesia, made their own choices to marry early, making child marriage a 'possible practice'. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple intersecting drivers, which were present in different degrees in each country setting, influenced the occurrence of child marriage. We found that child marriage is a manifestation of social norms, particularly related to girls' sexuality, which are intersecting with other factors at individual, social, material, and institutional level - most prominently poverty or economic constraints. Child marriage was, in some cases, a result of girls' agentic choices. Efforts to prevent child marriage need to take these realities of girls and their families into account.

What makes a woman? Understanding the reasons for and circumstances of female genital mutilation/cutting in Indonesia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

This study presents the reasons for, and circumstances of, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Indonesia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Data were collected in 2016 and 2017 by means of a household survey conducted with young people (15-24 years) and through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews with youth and community stakeholders. The study findings confirm previously documented reasons for FGM/C, noting that these reasons are interconnected, and are rooted in gender norms. These reasons drive the alterations of bodies to produce a 'cultured' body in the form of the 'pure body' among Sundanese and Sasak peoples in Indonesia, the 'tame' body among the Amhara people in Ethiopia and the 'adult body' among the Maasai people in Kenya. While health workers and parents are important decision-makers in each setting, young Maasai women are, at times, able to exercise their agency to decide whether to undergo FGM/C, owing to their older age at circumcision. Changing legal and social contexts in each setting have brought about changes in the practice of FGM/C such as increased medicalisation of the procedure in Indonesia. The clear links between the different drivers of FGM/C in each setting demonstrate the need for context-specific strategies and interventions to create long-lasting change.