| Peer-Reviewed

Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Received: 15 February 2014     Published: 10 March 2014
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Early marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts and reduces educational opportunities and the chance for personal growth for both boys and girls. This study investigated the prevalence of early marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam zones of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 769 respondents (476 females and 293 males) who were randomly selected from two zones. Structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. Percentages and Chi-square were used for analysis. The results revealed that early marriage is prevalent in the study areas. Its incidence was higher in East Gojjam(87%) than South Wollo(80%) and much higher for females (83%) than males (17%). Early marriage experience across age cohorts shows a revival of the practice. Hence, legal campaigns against early marriage that allow full community participation are recommended.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11
Page(s) 11-16
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Early Marriage, South Wollo, East Gojjam, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

References
[1] UNICEF. (2001). Early marriage: Child spouses. Innocents Digest, No.7, 1-30.
[2] National Committee on Traditional Practices of Ethiopia. (2003). Ethiopia harmful traditional practices: Old beyond imaginings Addis Ababa.
[3] Pankrust, H. (1992). Gender, development and identity. London: Biddles Ltd.
[4] Central Statistical Authority and ORC Macro. (2001). Ethiopia demographic and health survey 2000. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Calverton, Maryland, USA: Central Statistical Authority and ORC Macro.
[5] Central Statistical Agency and ORC Macro .(2006). Ethiopia demographic and health survey 2005. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Calverton, Maryland, USA: Central Statistical Agency and ORC Macro.
[6] Pathfinder International. (2006). Report on causes and consequences of early marriage in Amhara Region, Retrieved September 20, 2008, from http://pathfindorg/site/Docserver/PTE_final_report
[7] Guday, E. (2005). Early marriage and its effects on girls’ education in rural Ethiopia: The case of Mecha Woreda in West Gojjam, North-Western Ethiopia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Goerg-August University of Goettingen, Gottingen.
[8] AFROL. (2006). Gender profiles: Ethiopia. Retrieved December 14, 2007, from http://www.afrol.com/categories/women/profiles/ethipiawomen.htm
[9] Population Council. (2005). Child marriage briefing: Ethiopia. Retrieved April 19, 2008, from http://www.populationcouncil.org/pdfs/briefingsheets/ETHIOPIA.pdf
[10] Teshome, T. (2005). Early marriage in Ethiopia: Law and social reality. Addis Ababa: Ye Ethiopia Goji Limadawi Dirgitoch Aswegaj Mahiber.
[11] Sida-Amhara Rural Development Program Coordination Unit (SARDP-PCU). (2004). Government pillar main summary report, Bahir Dar.
[12] Kreuger, L., & Neuman, W. (2006). Social work research methods: Qualitative and quantitative applications with research navigator. Boston: Pearson Education.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kerebih Asrese, Mulunesh Abebe. (2014). Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Kerebih Asrese; Mulunesh Abebe. Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2014, 2(2), 11-16. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Kerebih Asrese, Mulunesh Abebe. Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Humanit Soc Sci. 2014;2(2):11-16. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11,
      author = {Kerebih Asrese and Mulunesh Abebe},
      title = {Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {11-16},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20140202.11},
      abstract = {Early marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts and reduces educational opportunities and the chance for personal growth for both boys and girls. This study investigated the prevalence of early marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam zones of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 769 respondents (476 females and 293 males) who were randomly selected from two zones. Structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. Percentages and Chi-square were used for analysis. The results revealed that early marriage is prevalent in the study areas. Its incidence was higher in East Gojjam(87%) than South Wollo(80%) and much higher for females (83%) than males (17%). Early marriage experience across age cohorts shows a revival of the practice.  Hence, legal campaigns against early marriage that allow full community participation are recommended.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Early Marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam Zones of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia
    AU  - Kerebih Asrese
    AU  - Mulunesh Abebe
    Y1  - 2014/03/10
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11
    T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    SP  - 11
    EP  - 16
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8184
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20140202.11
    AB  - Early marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts and reduces educational opportunities and the chance for personal growth for both boys and girls. This study investigated the prevalence of early marriage in South Wollo and East Gojjam zones of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 769 respondents (476 females and 293 males) who were randomly selected from two zones. Structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. Percentages and Chi-square were used for analysis. The results revealed that early marriage is prevalent in the study areas. Its incidence was higher in East Gojjam(87%) than South Wollo(80%) and much higher for females (83%) than males (17%). Early marriage experience across age cohorts shows a revival of the practice.  Hence, legal campaigns against early marriage that allow full community participation are recommended.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Bahir Dar University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

  • Bahir Dar University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

  • Sections