This article examines the relationships between child marriage, agency, and schooling in rural Honduras. Through an in-depth qualitative case study, the following questions are addressed: In what ways, if any, do girls exercise agency in their decision to marry? How might education enhance girls’ agency, expanding their choice sets and delaying the age of marriage?
The argument is made that a lack of understanding of the decision-making processes of young girls impedes the design and implementation of interventions to address child marriage.
This report highlights that the agency that girls exercise is simultaneously thin, opportunistic, accommodating, and oppositional. The findings suggest that for education to enhance adolescent girls’ agency, it must transform the sociocultural conditions that constrain their actions, targeting individual girls, families, and communities.