Hunger, poverty in Niger forcing families to marry daughters at younger ages

Agence France-Presse reports on how poverty and hunger are forcing families in the rural village of Hawkantaki, Niger, to marry their daughters at increasingly younger ages, writing, "A girl married off is one less mouth to feed, and the dowry money she brings in goes to feed others." The news agency notes "one out of every three girls in Niger marries before her 15th birthday, a rate of child marriage among the highest in the world, according to a UNICEF survey." According to AFP, "Most of the marriages should be illegal under Niger's law, which states that the minimum age of marriage is 15," but the law "only applies for civil ceremonies officiated by the state. Marriages in villages are sealed inside mosques and fall under what is called 'traditional law'" (Callimachi, 9/16).