ABSTRACT
The current international approach to child marriage is the complete prohibition of marriage under the age of 18. Child marriage is considered a problem internationally, and those who practice it tend to be viewed as ‘traditional’, that is, insufficiently modern. This chapter aims to challenge this viewpoint, by discussing data that show that these young people use under-age marriage as a solution to navigate the modern world in which they live. As child marriage is rather a symptom of unplanned pregnancy outside of wedlock, the policies and programmes should be redirected to address this root cause.
