- Human Rights
- Gender Equality
- Health
- Togo
Girls, not brides. A childhood worth protecting.
Every year, around 12 million girls worldwide are married before they turn 18. In Togo, about one young woman in four was married as a child. This brief explains why child marriage persists, what it costs girls and their communities, and how education, law and community action are bringing it to an end.
About 25 in every 100 women in Togo aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union before age 18.Source: Togo MICS 2017 and UNICEF child marriage database.2
What child marriage is
Child marriage is any formal marriage or informal union, whether customary, religious or civil, in which one or both people are under 18. Most often it is a girl married to an older man, before she is physically, psychologically or legally ready for marriage and motherhood.
Child marriage violates children's rights and is often linked to other forms of violence against them. A girl married as a child loses her adolescence: her schooling, her health and her chance to choose her own future. Because a child cannot give full and free consent, international law treats child marriage as a form of forced marriage.
Worldwide, around 640 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood, and about one young woman in five was married before 18.1 The practice is declining, but not fast enough to end it by 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a growing share of the global total.
Child marriage in Togo
In Togo, about one woman in four aged 20 to 24 was married or in a union before 18, and a smaller share before 15.2 The national average hides large differences.
Higher in the north
Rates are highest in the northern regions, especially Savanes, and lower in Lomé and the coastal south.
A rural divide
Girls in rural areas are far more likely to marry young than girls in towns, where schooling and services are closer.
Schooling protects
Girls from the poorest households and those with little or no schooling face the highest risk.
These patterns point to where action matters most: rural communities in the north, girls at risk of leaving school, and the families under the greatest economic pressure.
Tradition, honour and family
Customs around marriage, including how spouses are chosen and the age gap between them, form the roots of the practice.
In many West African societies, the family is an extended unit of several households that lives and produces together, and where the interests of the community come before those of individuals. Within that model, marriage is understood as an agreement between two families. It is decided by elders and does not require the personal consent of the spouses or a minimum age.
Marrying a daughter early can be a way to follow tradition or religious expectation. It is also used to control girls' sexuality and to prevent a pregnancy outside marriage that could bring shame on the family. And it can strengthen ties within and between communities. These reasons remain strong, though economic pressure is playing a growing role.
No tradition is worth a girl's childhood. Communities can keep their values and still let their daughters grow up.
RFLD advocacy framing
When poverty sets the price
Beyond tradition, many families turn to child marriage as a survival strategy. Poverty is one of the most common drivers.
Girls are given to older, wealthier men in exchange for money or goods that support the family. Interviews RFLD conducted in Togo with survivors of child marriage show how direct this link can be.
What RFLD heard in Togo
From interviews with survivors of child marriage
- Age
- Some girls were married between the ages of 9 and 12.
- Bride price
- Some were given in marriage for as little as 35,000 CFA francs.
- Debt
- Others were married to repay a family debt of 75,000 to 100,000 CFA francs.
These are short-term answers to economic hardship that ignore the long-term cost. A girl married to settle a debt loses her education and her future earnings, and the family's poverty often passes to her own children. Breaking this link means easing the economic pressure on families, so that keeping a daughter in school becomes the better choice.
Six drivers of child marriage
Child marriage persists where several pressures meet. Each one is also a point where action can make a difference.
Girls valued less
Where girls have lower status than boys, they may be seen as a burden, and their wellbeing and schooling are not a priority.
One less mouth to feed
Marrying a daughter can mean lower household costs, a bride price, or an alliance with another family.
Fear of pregnancy
Where family honour rests on a girl's virginity, parents may marry her early to prevent pregnancy outside marriage.
No proof of age
Around 150 million children under five worldwide have no birth registration. Without it, a girl cannot prove she is too young to marry.3
Laws on paper
Even where child marriage is illegal, the practice can be so normal that sanctions are rare and families ignore the law.
Conflict, disaster and shocks
Conflict, floods, drought and rising prices push families who would never have considered it to marry their daughters young.
What child marriage costs girls
Child marriage harms a girl's whole life, and the damage reaches her children, her community and her country.
Violence and abuse
Girls married young face a higher risk of domestic and sexual violence, and sexual relations are often forced.
Early pregnancy
Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading causes of death for girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide.4 Young brides are also more exposed to HIV and other infections, as they are rarely able to negotiate safe sex.
Out of school
Once married, a girl is treated as an adult. Household work and childcare usually end her schooling.
Mental and emotional harm
Isolation, loss of friends and control over her life raise the risk of depression and anxiety.
Poverty passed on
Child marriage keeps women out of education and paid work, holding back families, communities and national development.
The reverse is also true. An educated girl tends to marry later, have fewer and healthier children, earn more and invest in her own children's schooling. Keeping girls in school is one of the most effective ways to fight both poverty and child marriage.5
The law in Togo
Togolese law sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage for both girls and boys and protects children from forced and early marriage.6
Togo's legal framework
Key provisions on child marriage
- Children's Code
- The 2007 Children's Code protects children from early and forced marriage.
- Family Code
- The revised Code of Persons and the Family sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both sexes.
- Penal Code
- The Penal Code treats forced marriage as an offence.
The challenge is enforcement. Many child marriages are customary or religious unions that are never registered with the state, so they escape legal control. Closing that gap requires birth and marriage registration, trained local authorities and police, and communities that know the law and are willing to report.
Regional and global commitments
Togo has signed African and international treaties that require it to end child marriage.
| Instrument | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Maputo ProtocolAfrican Union, 2003 | Sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage for women and requires free and full consent (Article 6). |
| African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the ChildAfrican Union, 1990 | Prohibits child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys, and sets 18 as the minimum age (Article 21). |
| Joint General Comment on Ending Child MarriageACHPR and ACERWC, 2017 | Explains in detail what states must do to end child marriage under the Maputo Protocol and the African Children's Charter. |
| Convention on the Rights of the ChildUnited Nations, 1989 | Protects children from harmful practices and guarantees the right to education and health. |
| CEDAWUnited Nations, 1979 | States that the marriage of a child has no legal effect (Article 16). |
| Sustainable Development Goal 5.3United Nations, 2015 | Commits all countries to end child, early and forced marriage by 2030. |
What works to end child marriage
Evidence from across Africa shows that child marriage falls fastest when several approaches work together.5
Keep girls learning
Free secondary schooling, help with fees and supplies, safe transport and proper toilets keep girls in class through adolescence.
Ease the pressure on families
Cash transfers, savings groups and livelihood support make keeping a daughter at home and in school affordable.
Girls who know their rights
Safe spaces where girls learn about their rights, their health and life skills give them the confidence to speak up.
Changing norms together
Dialogue with parents, religious and traditional leaders shifts what communities see as normal and right.
Every child counted
Birth and marriage registration give girls legal proof of age and make child marriages visible.
Health and protection
Sexual and reproductive health services and referral to protection for girls at risk or already married.
RFLD in Togo
RFLD, the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement, is a pan-African feminist network of 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries. In Togo, RFLD leads initiatives to end child marriage, working with families, schools, local authorities and young people.
- Talking with parents and local authorities about the dangers of child marriage and girls' rights.
- Informing children and young people of their rights and how to defend them.
- Advocating with state actors to strengthen existing laws and make sure they are applied.
- Removing barriers to education that push girls out of school: distance to school, fees, safety, drinking water, proper sanitation and child labour.
- Supporting young activists, girls and boys, who campaign against child marriage in their own communities.
Child marriage in Togo seriously harms the sexual and reproductive health of young girls. They are more exposed to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence and mental health problems. RFLD links its work in Togo to its wider programmes on sexual and reproductive health and rights and on the Maputo Protocol, so that local action and continental advocacy reinforce each other.
What investment makes possible
Togo has the law, regional commitments and community groups already working to end child marriage. Investment decides how many girls they can reach.
Girls who stay in school
Support with fees, supplies, water and sanitation for girls at risk of dropping out, especially in the north.
Economic options for families
Savings groups and livelihood support for the mothers of girls at risk, so marriage is no longer the answer to debt.
Girls and boys who campaign
Training and small grants for youth activists leading change in their own villages.
Laws that are applied
Training for local authorities and support for birth registration, so the minimum age of 18 is enforced.
Every girl deserves to choose her own future.
RFLD works with funders and partners to keep girls in school and out of marriage in Togo and across West Africa.
Partner with RFLD Email programs@rflgd.orgSources and further reading
Statistics come from international agency datasets and national surveys, and from RFLD's own interviews in Togo. Figures change with each survey round, so please check the latest editions before republication.
- UNICEF, "Is an End to Child Marriage within Reach?" (2023) and UNICEF global child marriage data. Global prevalence, annual numbers and trends.
- Togo Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017 and the UNICEF child marriage database. National and regional prevalence in Togo.
- UNICEF data on birth registration. Number of children under five without a registered birth.
- World Health Organization, adolescent pregnancy fact sheet. Pregnancy and childbirth complications among girls aged 15 to 19.
- Girls Not Brides and UNICEF evidence reviews on what works to end child marriage, including the role of girls' education.
- Togo's Children's Code (2007), Code of Persons and the Family, and Penal Code. Minimum age of marriage and protection from forced marriage. Check the latest legal texts before republication.
Prepared by RFLD as an advocacy and evidence brief. Where a precise figure could not be verified against a primary source, the text uses qualitative language. Please verify all statistics against the cited primary sources before republication.
