Child marriage among Somali refugees in Ethiopia: a cross sectional survey of adolescent girls and adult women

Despite child marriage receiving increased attention over the past two decades, research on child marriage in humanitarian settings remains scarce. This study sought to quantify child marriage among Somali adolescent girls residing in Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia and to identify its correlates and consequences.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among randomly sampled households with at least one female aged 15–49 and at least one adolescent female aged 10–19. In addition to calculating the proportion of girls married under age 18, the study identified risk factors associated with child marriage in this context. It also described marital age preferences among female adults and presented measures of important sexual and reproductive health indicators among married adolescent girls.

Insights generated from this study have the potential to inform programmes and interventions aiming to prevent and mitigate the impacts of this harmful practice.