Answer:
What are the differences?
- Not all child brides undergo FGM/C and not all girls who experience FGM/C are child brides.
- Child marriage is more widespread than FGM/C. Approximately 650 million women alive today were married as children while 200 million women have been cut, according to UNICEF.
- Child marriage happens all over the world, cutting across countries, cultures and religions, but FGM/C happens primarily in Africa and some countries in Asia and the Middle East.
- There are many places where child marriage happens while FGM/C does not. However, when FGM/C does happen, it often leads to child marriage.
Explanation:
Similarities:
- They're both driven by gender inequality and social expectations of what it means to be a girl. They are patriarchal means of controlling girls’ sexuality often linked to cultural, religious or traditional social norms.
- They don't protect girls. Some parents and communities believe child marriage and FGM/C to be a way of protecting girls from pre-marital sex and secure a safer future for their daughters. In reality they are both violations of girls’ rights which have devastating consequences for their health, education and safety.
- They both make girls more likely to drop out of school, and face violence, health problems, and experience complications during pregnancy.
- Neither practice is endorsed by religion. Many communities interpret their faith differently and use these practices as a marker of their religious identity. Getting religious leaders on board to debunk this myth is an important part of changing social norms.
