The Guardian: Why Covid school closures are making girls marry early
“…In a rapid reaction study by VSO in four rural districts where Sisters for Sisters are active [in Nepal], girls were asked about changes in their life since the coronavirus lockdown. A huge majority — 89% — reported increased pressure to do housework or agricultural labor at the cost of school work, and 11 marriages had taken place out of 152 girls. Local groups felt this was a clear increase on a normal three-month period. … The U.N.’s population agency, UNFPA, said in April that as many as 13 million more child marriages could take place over the next 10 years because of a six-month Covid-19 shutdown of schools and family planning services combined with increasing economic hardship…” (Grant, 9/7).