Nepal floods expected to drive up child marriages as families lose homes
After devastating August floods, child marriage rates will rise in regions already prone to the practice as families lose economic stability.
Northern Nepal's August 26 floods left families homeless and broke. Before the disaster, more than a third of girls were already married as children.
Now that risk is higher. When families lose everything and cannot return to work, girls are pulled from school to care for injured relatives.
More than one quarter of girls surveyed across five countries reported increased gender-based violence after climate events. One in ten said they experienced unintended pregnancy.
Schools shutting and girls kept home intensifies the pressure. Keeping girls in school is the single strongest protection against child marriage.
Climate shocks remove that protection.
- More than a third
- Girls married as children before floods
- 28 percent
- Girls reporting increased gender-based
- August 26
- Flood date
- Bangladesh, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Peru
- Survey location
Why it mattersClimate disasters don't affect everyone equally. They trap vulnerable girls in cycles of marriage, violence and poverty faster.
AustraliaAustralia is chairing upcoming Pacific climate talks. Gender impacts of extreme weather are now a key agenda item for climate policy.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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