Campaign Coordinator for World Vision Ghana, Mrs Barbra Asare, has hinted that child marriage in the country is increasing amid the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
She described the situation as very worrying that needs collaborative efforts from all stakeholders to fight.
Mrs Asare attributed the rise in child marriage to economic hardship created by the pandemic and shut down of schools.
”After the girls have gotten pregnant, their families in order to avoid disgrace from peers, go and dump their girls on the man who impregnated them,“she said.
The World Vision Campaign Coordinator cited Krachi, where over 50 cases of teenage pregnancies have been recorded from May to June as an example.
She was speaking at a forum to help form a media coalition to intensify education against child marriage.
Additionally, she cautioned parents to desist from giving out teen children for marriage, insisting it is punishable by law.