Students and brides: a qualitative analysis of the relationship between girls' education and early marriage in Ethiopia and India.

Background: Early marriage (< 18 years) is associated with education cessation among girls. Little research has qualitatively assessed how girls build resiliency in affected contexts. This study examines these issues in Oromia, Ethiopia and Jharkhand, India among girls and their decision-makers exposed to early marriage prevention programs.

Beyond the statistic: exploring the process of early marriage decision-making using qualitative findings from Ethiopia and India.

Background: Early marriage of girls (marriage < 18 years) is a pervasive abuse of rights that compromises maternal and child health. The common conceptualization of this practice as an outcome undermines the nuanced and sometimes protracted decision-making process of whom and when to marry.

Methods: This paper uses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with females aged 13-23 years who participated in child marriage prevention programs and either married early or cancelled/postponed early marriage, and their key marital decision-makers in Oromia, Ethiopia (n = 105) and Jharkhand, India (n = 100).

Intersections of girl child marriage and family planning beliefs and use: qualitative findings from Ethiopia and India.

Child marriage and subsequent early first birth is a considerable social, economic and health concern, and a pervasive practice in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This study explores barriers and facilitators to family planning among women and girls, and their marital decision-makers subsequent to receipt of child marriage prevention programmes in Ethiopia and India. In-depth interviews with 128 women and girls who were married as minors or who cancelled or postponed marriage as minors and their marital decision-makers were analysed using content analysis.