Factors influencing early marriages among adolescents in Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy is the leading cause of death worldwide for women 15 to 19. (ICRW, 2013). At a global level, child marriage is a serious human rights violation since it deprives girls from their future by denying them the right to decide when and with whom to marry (Davis, Postles and Rosa, 2013. Several factors are associated with early marriage such as, the level of education, age at first sex, severe poverty, weak legal enforcement residence, age at first birth, ethnicity, religious affiliation and age of the household (Ahimbisibwe, 2019). This study aims at investigating the factors which influence early marriages among adolescents in eastern Uganda and the possible solutions for the problem Method: The study is based on data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS). The UDHS is a nationally representative population-based household conducted every 5 years. It captures information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, household characteristics and reproductive health indicators including marriages, fertility rates, nutrition, decision making in questionnaires, child health, domestic violence etc. In this study, the researcher will consider only women who are currently or formerly in union Results: About 47% of women who participated in this study resided in poor households and the least proportion were from households in the middle wealth status. Also, the highest proportion of participants were Catholics, closely followed by Anglicans by faith. By residence, about 86% of the participants were from the rural settings and 80% were working at the time of the survey. Concerning age at first sex, about 77% of the respondents had before they reached 18 years of age. Furthermore, almost all respondents had knowledge about modern contraceptive methods. Conclusion: The role of men involvement in sexual and reproductive health should not be underestimated. Men should be involved in sexual and reproductive health which helps them to make informed decisions in all issues related to marriage which would help to reduce on the rate of early marriages among adolescents in eastern Uganda