Married adolescent
The 2013 State of World Population Report defines child
marriage as marriage in which one or both partners are under
the age of 18. This applies to both boys and girls, but the
practice overwhelmingly involves young girls. Child brides
have difficulty exercising their autonomy, whether in terms
of negotiating safer sex, timing or spacing their pregnancies,
or getting access to sexual and reproductive information and
services. In addition, their bodies are often not physiologically
ready for childbearing.