Report One size does not fit all The patterning and drivers of child marriage in Ethiopia’s hotspot districts Nicola Jones, Bekele Tefera, Guday Emirie, Bethelihem Gebre, Kiros Berhanu, Elizabeth Presler-Marshall, David Walker, Taveeshi Gupta and Georgia Plank March 2016 This research was conducted by Overseas Development Institute (ODI), contracted by UNICEF in collaboration with the National Alliance to End Child Marriage and FGM in Ethiopia by 2025. UNICEF and ODI hold joint copyright. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies or views of UNICEF or ODI. UNICEF Ethiopia UNECA Compound, Zambezi Building Tel: +251115184000 Fax: +251115511628 E-mail:[email protected] www.unicef.org/Ethiopia Overseas Development Institute 203 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NJ Tel. +44 (0) 20 7922 0300 Fax. +44 (0) 20 7922 0399 E-mail: [email protected] www.odi.org www.odi.org/facebook www.odi.org/twitter Readers are encouraged to reproduce material from ODI Reports for their own publications, as long as they are not being sold commercially. As copyright holder, ODI and UNICEF request due acknowledgement and a copy of the publication. For online use, we ask readers to link to the original resource on the ODI and UNICEF websites. © Overseas Development Institute and United Nations Children’s Fund 2015. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0). ISSN: 2052-7209 All ODI Reports are available from www.odi.org Cover photo: Hands, Ethiopia © David Walker/ODI 2015 Page 32: FGD with mothers – Chifra Woreda, Jaraena Kontola Kebele © Bethelihem Gebre, 2014 Page 41: Aneded Woreda, Daget yegelqa Kebele, FGD girls © Monenus, 2014 Page 52: Aneded Woreda, mothers FGD © Monenus, 2014 Page 61: Semogn, Solela Kebele, Sand mining area, Quarit Woreda © Guday Emirie, 2014 Page 72: Women walking, Ethiopia © David Walker, 2014 Page 82: Adolescent girls © Monenus, 2014 Page 92: Girja woreda, Genale River © Monenus, 2014 Page 102: elementary school © Monenus, 2014 Page 110: Harbe Gata Kebele, Gorche © Guday Emirie, 2014 Page 119: Adi Teleom Kebele © Dejenu Teklu, 2014 Page 129: Two young refugee girls carry water to their camp ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Ayene Acknowledgements The authors wish to extend their sincere thanks to the following people who assisted with the fieldwork process without whom the process would not have been possible. No. Name Address Position Afar 1 Asker Mehammed Afar, Chifra Woreda Head, Woreda Justice Office /Translator & Coordinator/ 2 Amine Ali Afar, Chifra Woreda Interpreter 3 Hawa Endris Afar, Chifra Woreda Interpreter Amhara 4 Azez Manaye Aneded Woreda BoWCYA Representative and Process Owner 5 Sinamaw Yirsaw Daget Yegeleqa Kebele, Aneded Woreda Kebele Manager 6 Yirga Almaw Daget Yegeleqa Kebele, Aneded Woreda Primary School Director 7 Tazashwork Mesfin Quarit Woreda Head of the Women, Children and Youth Affairs Office 8 Yefitursira Alemayehu Quarit Woreda Vice Head of the Women, Children and Youth Affairs Office 9 Delelech Tadesse Alefa Woreda Alefa Woreda Women Association leader 10 Melisew Gedilu Alefa Woreda Head, Education Office 11 Habte Adane Alefa Woreda Photographer Gambela 12 Yiey Choal Jikaw Woreda Research Assistant 13 Nihal Majok Joak Jikaw Woreda Translator /Interpreter 14 Pastor Peter Minyjiak Jikaw Woreda Pastor 15 Paul jock Luak Jikaw Woreda Deng,Chief Administrator & Head, Education Office Oromia 16 Monenus Hundarra Oromia Region Research Assistant 17 Abdisa Girja Woreda, WCYAO Staff 18 Gabo Guji Zone Zonal WCYAO – Staff 19 Ruth Girja Woreda Head , Woreda WCYAO 20 Hayat Oda Bultum Woreda/Badessa/ Coordinator 21 Aster Fadis Woreda Child Protection Officer 22 Samuel Fadis Woreda IdoBaso Primary School Director 23 Abiy Getaneh Fadis Woreda Photographer SNNPRR 24 Solomon Desalegn Hawassa Sidama Language Translator 25 Wubanchi Ketsela Hawassa Sidama Language Translator One size does not fit all 3 No. Name Address Position Tigray 26 Rahiwa Tahtay Adiabo Head, Women Affairs Office 27 Kalayu Mebratu Gebru Tahtay Adiabo Women Affairs office, Monitoring and Evaluation Expert 28 Giush Tahtay Adiabo Interpreter 29 Amanuel Negasi Tahtay Adiabo Interpreter 30 Dejenu Teklu Tahtay Adiabo Photographer Addis Ababa 31 Moges Kibret Addis Ababa Coordinating the Transcription In terms of institutional support, the authors would also • Oda Roba Primary School, Oromia, Oda Bultum like to extend their sincere thanks to the following: Woreda, Badessa • Idobas Primary School, Oromia, Fedis Woreda 1. Woreda Women and Children Affairs Of: • Aditeleom Primary School, Tigray, Tahtay Adiabo • Chifra Woreda Woreda • Alefa Woreda 3. Kebeles where we were allowed to do our interviews • Quarit Woreda • Harbe Geta Kebele, SNNPRR Gorche Woreda • Aneded Woreda • Semogn Solela Kebele, Amhara, Quarit Woreda • Jikaw Woreda • Daget Yegelqa Kebele, Amahra, Aneded Woreda • Girja Woreda • Badessa Woreda Other Institutions • Fedis Woreda • Gorche Woreda 4. Churches where we were allowed to do our interviews • Tahtay Adiabo woreda • Kuachintiang Presbyterian Church, Jikawo Woreda 2. Schools where we were allowed to do our interviews: • Jarana Kontola Primary School, Afar, Chifra They also wish to thank Ellen Alem at UNICEF for Woreda her thoughtful guidance throughout the process and to • Dengel Ber Primary and Secondary School, Ato Haileluel from the Ministry of Women, Children and Amhara, Alefa Woreda Youth Affairs and the steering committee of the National • Daget Yegelqa Primary School, Amhara, Aneded Alliance to End Child Marriage by 2025 for their helpful Woreda advice and comments. • Wele Megadu Primary School, Oromia, Girja For editorial support we thank Aaron Griffiths, Roo Woreda Griffiths, Catriona Foley and Gabbi Gray. 4 One size does not fit all Contents Acknowledgements 3 Abbreviations 9 Glossary of types of marriage 10 Glossary of local terms 12 1 Introduction 14 2 Methodology 17 3 Key message: one size does not fit all 22 4 Hotspot districts 32 Appendix 1: Top 50 hotspots for child marriage, all girls 10-17, by woreda (2007 census) with report hotspot woredas highlighted 138 Appendix 2: Number of interviews per site 140 Appendix 3: Research instruments 141 Appendix 4: MAXQDA Coding structure for drivers’ analysis 153 One size does not fit all 5 Tables Table 1: Top 20 hotspots for child marriage, by woreda, girls aged 10-14 (2007 census) with hotspot woredas included in this report highlighted 17 Table 2: Top 20 hotspots for child marriage, by woreda, girls aged 15-17 (2007 census), with hotspot woredas included in this report highlighted 17 Table 3: Summary of interviews by type 20 Table 4: Cross-site summary points for hotspot woredas 28 Table 5: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 33 Table 6: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 42 Table 7: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 53 Table 8: Percentage of girls who are married, by age and by residence (Source: 2007 census) 63 Table 9: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 73 Table 10: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 83 Table 11: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 93 Table 12: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 103 Table 13: Percent of girls who are married, by age, by residence (Source: 2007 Census) 111 Figures Figure 1: Median age at first marriage, by region, for women aged 25-49 (CSA and ICF International, 2012) 14 Figure 2: Percent of women married by age 15 and by age 18 (CSA and ICF International, 2012) 15 Figure 3: Percent of girls ever married, by age group (2007 census) 16 Figure 4: Hotspot locations (and % of all girls aged 10-17 married, per 2007 census) 18 Figure 5: Hotspot locations (and % of all girls aged 10-14 married, per 2007 census) 19 Figure 6: Hotspot locations (and % of all girls aged 15-17 married, per 2007 census) 19 6 One size does not fit all Boxes Box 1: Participatory photography with adolescents: aims and objectives 21 Box 2: Possible questions to strengthen the EDHS as a tool to measure child marriage over time 27 Box 3: Jarana Kontola kebele overview 34 Box 4: The evolving cultural practice of absuma in Chifra woreda 35 Box 5: Conforming to social norms of child marriage 37 Box 6: A pioneering example in Chifra 39 Box 7: Dengel Ber Kebele 42 Box 8: Plan B, combining betrothal with education 45 Box 9: Trapped in a marriage to a priest 46 Box 10: Learning from the past 47 Box 11: Determined to not make the same mistake twice 47 Box 12: Boys are sometimes at risk of child marriage too 49 Box 13: Daget Yegeleqa overview 54 Box 14: Conforming to social norms of child marriage 57 Box 15: A pioneering example in Aneded 58 Box 16: Semogn Solela Kebele 62 Box 17: The emerging problem of contract wives 65 Box 18: The limits of personal autonomy 67 Box 19: Non-governmental support for girls in Quarit 68 Box 20: A mind of her own 69 Box 21: Overview of Odoroba and Bedesa 73 Box 22: Evolving marriage practices 74 Box 23: Apparent success in other forms of discriminatory norms shows that change can happen over two generations 76 Box 24: Fedis overview 83 Box 25: Illustrations of types of wedding arrangements in Fedis 84 Box 26: Female-initiated divorce: a growing trend in Fedis 85 One size does not fit all 7 Box 27: Community views on the relationship between jala deemuu and the