Pandemic forcing girls in south-east Asia and Pacific out of school and into marriage – study
Helen Sullivan
Thousands of adolescent girls across south-east Asia and the Pacific are being forced to leave school and get married instead as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a charity has warned, saying “a generation of girls could be lost”.
A new report by Plan International Australia highlighted the importance of secondary education for girls, and detailed the increased risk and long-term impacts of child, early and forced marriage in the region.
“At the heart of child marriage is the view that female children are an economic burden,” the gender equality charity’s CEO, Susanne Legena, told the Guardian. “When girls are married, they are viewed as adults and their education typically stops.”