Child Marriage is Child Labour

AIDS-Free World’s Child Marriage is Child Labour campaign stems from the concern that girls forced into marriage prematurely are at an especially high risk of contracting HIV from their older, more sexually experienced "husbands.” Girls in marriages to older men lack equal power to negotiate safer sex and are isolated, removed from school and peer networks, and have little access to HIV information or services.
Child “marriage” is not merely a harmful practice: it is a crime, it is child labour in its worst form, and it is a complete violation of a girl’s human rights.
AIDS-Free World is pushing the International Labour Organization (ILO) to recognize girls who are forced into illegal marriages as child labourers.
Why? Because millions of girls aren't being counted.
Consider the significant difference between the numbers of girls and boys engaged in hazardous work according to a 2017 ILO Report:

But the ratio of boys to girls is skewed because the ILO is not counting child “wives” as child labourers. If they were to include the girls who are illegally forced into "marriage" every year, the statistics would look completely different.
The ILO’s global estimates currently convey to the world a false sense that child "marriage" is not child labour and that the problem of child labour among girls is not as significant as it is among boys.
At its core, child “marriage” is about the violation and subjugation of women around the world. By recognizing the phenomenon of child “marriage” as child labour, the ILO—together with organizations devoted to abolishing child "marriage"—can take an active role in ending it.

For an in-depth understanding of the issue and the ILO's response, read our report, Child Marriage is Child Labour: The disappearance of girls from child labour statistics.

You can also download our checklist explaining how child "marriage" measures up against the ILO's definition of child labour, and our brochure summarizing this critical problem.