UNICEF has issued a report the number of boys who get married the world. It estimates that 115 million boys and men were married as children. Of these, one five, or 23 million, were married the age 15. The report is UNICEF's first ever in-depth study child grooms. UNICEF said a lot of news focuses on young girls being forced marriage as child brides. The new report looks the same problem of forced marriage but with boys. The UN agency looked at data from 82 countries. It found that child marriage boys is common in countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and nations in the Pacific. The Central African Republic has the highest rate child grooms.
UNICEF commented the damage child marriage does to boys. It said: "Marriage steals childhood. Child grooms are forced to take adult responsibilities which they may not be ready. Early marriage brings early fatherhood, and with it added pressure to provide a family, cutting short education and job opportunities." UNICEF spoke about the harm child marriage does to boys and girls. It said: "When we think child marriage we often think girls, and rightly so because girls are most affected, but boys do marry childhood." It added: "[Child marriage] creates a burden boys to take adult responsibilities and roles when they are still children themselves, like providing a family."
