What if girls decide that their marriage is a good choice? 5 tips for practitioners in addressing girls’ agency in child marriage programmes (Infographic)

The prevailing idea amongst child marriage practitioners is that child marriage is a negative force to reject. In response, programmes target girls at risk of marriage, seeking to "empower" them to make the "right decision" and not marry at a young age. However, new research and practitioner insights illustrate that some girls do still choose marriage. For some, marriage is an aspiration; for others, a source of security and protection or an inevitable fate that is not worth resisting. Marriage can also offer a platform or opportunity to negotiate a "better deal" aimed at gender equality and the gratification of girls’ needs and desires from within a union. These multiple realities informing the decisions taken by girls and/or their parents and communities call for the refreshment of thinking and practices around girls’ empowerment. This infographic summarises five tips that can be seeds of transformation for child marriage programming.