A/HRC/26/22 schooling, overcrowding, unqualified teachers and gender-based violence often increase the viability of early marriage as an alternative option for many girls.30 19. Responses received for the present report indicate that in many contexts families are encouraged to marry their children young because it is the accepted cultural practice. In Nepal, for example, a 2013 study conducted by UNICEF found that three of the five main reasons given by respondents for marriage under 18 years of age were social pressure, culture and because “it is normal – everyone does it”.31 Plan International also notes that parents’ decisions to marry their daughters at an early age are often motivated by stereotypical views of sexuality and women’s role in society.32 In these circumstances, marriage is viewed as a way to protect girls from the risk of sexual violence, prevent premarital relations and potential dishonour to the family, avoid criticism of older unmarried girls as impure,33 restore family honour in cases of sexual violence or hide real or perceived sexual orientation.34 20. The risk of child, early and forced marriage is also exacerbated for girls in conflict and humanitarian crisis situations, where the increased risks of poverty from financial instability and sexual violence leave girls even more vulnerable to this practice.35 For instance, reports of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic noted an increase in child, early and forced marriage, as families felt their daughters would be safer if married.36 V. Human rights impact of child, early and forced marriage 21. The impact of child, early and forced marriage on the realization and enjoyment of girls’ and women’s rights can be wide ranging.37 It can imply significant age and power differentials between a bride and her spouse, which undermine the agency and autonomy of girls and young women. In this context, girls and young women often face physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence, and restrictions on their movement. Women and girls in situations of child and forced marriage may experience conditions inside a marriage which meet “international legal definitions of slavery and slavery-like practices” including servile marriage, sexual slavery, child servitude, child trafficking and forced 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 8 See www.plan-uk.org/early-and-forced-marriage/. UNICEF submission, p. 7. Plan International submission 2, para. 10. UNICEF submission, p. 7. Submission from Protect and Save the Children Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, “Child marriage – situation in Malaysia” (2013), p. 1; report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (A/HRC/25/48), para. 26; and Plan International submission, p. 10. See, for example, J . Schlecht, E. Rowley, J. Babirye, “Early relationships and marriage in conflict and post-conflict settings: vulnerability of youth in Uganda”, Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 21, No. 41 (May 2013), pp. 234–42; Human Rights Watch, “How come you allow little girls to get married?” (2011); Report of the Secretary-General on forced marriage of the girl child (E/CN.6/2008/4), pp. 4–5. A/HRC/23/58, para. 35, and A/HRC/24/46, para. 36. For more information on the health consequences of child marriage, in particular the impact on access to sexual and reproductive health rights, see submissions from UNICEF, UNFPA and the Sexual Rights Initiative and Center for Reproductive Rights. See also UNFPA, Motherhood in childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy (see note 4), overview and pp. 11 and 23; and A/HRC/18/27.