ABSTRACT
This chapter will reflect on worrying data emerging from a number of African and South Asian contexts (specifically India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Somali) that suggest instances of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage have resurged during the global pandemic. What these increases show is that the life of the girl child is still systematically devalued. Increases in child marriage are linked to rising poverty. Families suffering from food insecurity need to reduce expenditure and many, so cases in South Asia show, have opted to do so by marrying their young daughters. Marrying girls before they reach adulthood passes the perceived problem of feeding her to another family. It also removes pressure to generate a dowry, which is commonly still given by a bride’s family to the grooms.
