Regional News of Saturday, 18 September 2021Source: GNAMadam Matilda Banfro, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Gender, has expressed misgivings about child marriage saying it is a worrisome phenomenon because of its implications of violence, poor health, poverty among others. It was organized by the Greater Accra Regional Department of Gender under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to equip the stakeholders to understand the need to prevent child marriages in their communities. Madam Banfro said child marriage had become a global problem, which spanned continents and cultures, and that according to available data, 15 million girls worldwide marry before their 18th birthday. “It also indicated that in Ghana girls from rural areas were twice more likely to become child brides than those in the urban areas. “The key causes of child marriage include poverty, culture, patriarchy, religion, and gender-based discrimination, which makes the children drop out of school while putting them into pregnancy and associated health dangers,” she said.
