This paper seeks to answer the question, what is the primary factor driving child marriage? I explore the literature in several scholarly articles that explain why the harmful, traditional practice of child marriage is an issue that predominantly affects girls globally. I also utilize the feminist theory of international relations to support my analysis of child marriage as a gender issue. Incorporating evidence from annual international reports, scholarly articles, and mixed methods studies, this paper examines a case study of Niger, where child marriage affects more than half the population of girls under the age of 18. In studying Niger, I use a a gendered analysis to examine the drivers of child marriage such as cultural practices/ societal norms, religious beliefs, educational gaps, and poverty to argue that child marriage must be studied through a gendered perspective rather than an economic one to achieve viable international policy implications. Concluding this paper, it is proven that Nigerien girls’ are married young more so due to their gender.
","abstract_html":"<p>This paper seeks to answer the question, what is the primary factor driving child marriage? I explore the literature in several scholarly articles that explain why the harmful, traditional practice of child marriage is an issue that predominantly affects girls globally. I also utilize the feminist theory of international relations to support my analysis of child marriage as a gender issue. Incorporating evidence from annual international reports, scholarly articles, and mixed methods studies, this paper examines a case study of Niger, where child marriage affects more than half the population of girls under the age of 18. In studying Niger, I use a a gendered analysis to examine the drivers of child marriage such as cultural practices/ societal norms, religious beliefs, educational gaps, and poverty to argue that child marriage must be studied through a gendered perspective rather than an economic one to achieve viable international policy implications. Concluding this paper, it is proven that Nigerien girls’ are married young more so due to their gender.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Safi, Melissa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"International Relations","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bruce Cronin","Jean Krasno"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z","subjects":["child bride","child marriage","Niger","gender","social norms","Human Rights Law","International Law","International Relations","Law and Gender","Other Political Science","Political Theory","Social Justice"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1112","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bruce Cronin","Jean Krasno"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Safi, Melissa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-12-12T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["International Relations"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["child bride","child marriage","Niger","gender","social norms","Human Rights Law","International Law","International Relations","Law and Gender","Other Political Science","Political Theory","Social Justice"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1112"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper seeks to answer the question, what is the primary factor driving child marriage? I explore the literature in several scholarly articles that explain why the harmful, traditional practice of child marriage is an issue that predominantly affects girls globally. I also utilize the feminist theory of international relations to support my analysis of child marriage as a gender issue. Incorporating evidence from annual international reports, scholarly articles, and mixed methods studies, this paper examines a case study of Niger, where child marriage affects more than half the population of girls under the age of 18. In studying Niger, I use a a gendered analysis to examine the drivers of child marriage such as cultural practices/ societal norms, religious beliefs, educational gaps, and poverty to argue that child marriage must be studied through a gendered perspective rather than an economic one to achieve viable international policy implications. Concluding this paper, it is proven that Nigerien girls’ are married young more so due to their gender.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Gendered Interpretation of Child Marriage: A Niger Case Study"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bruce Cronin","Jean Krasno"],"dc:creator":["Safi, Melissa"],"dc:date.available":["2022-12-12T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper seeks to answer the question, what is the primary factor driving child marriage? I explore the literature in several scholarly articles that explain why the harmful, traditional practice of child marriage is an issue that predominantly affects girls globally. I also utilize the feminist theory of international relations to support my analysis of child marriage as a gender issue. Incorporating evidence from annual international reports, scholarly articles, and mixed methods studies, this paper examines a case study of Niger, where child marriage affects more than half the population of girls under the age of 18. In studying Niger, I use a a gendered analysis to examine the drivers of child marriage such as cultural practices/ societal norms, religious beliefs, educational gaps, and poverty to argue that child marriage must be studied through a gendered perspective rather than an economic one to achieve viable international policy implications. Concluding this paper, it is proven that Nigerien girls’ are married young more so due to their gender.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1112"],"dc:subject":["child bride","child marriage","Niger","gender","social norms","Human Rights Law","International Law","International Relations","Law and Gender","Other Political Science","Political Theory","Social Justice"],"dc:title":["The Gendered Interpretation of Child Marriage: A Niger Case Study"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["International Relations"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z"}