Taux alarmants du mariage des enfants au Sénégal : 31 % des filles mariées avant 18 ans, 9 % avant 15 ans
"Child marriage is a harmful practice that seriously and lastingly undermines girls' fundamental rights. It violates their right to education by depriving them of their schooling and their right to health by exposing them to the risks of early pregnancy, maternal and infant mortality, and serious physical and psychological after-effects." This is the observation of the Association of Senegalese Jurists (AJS).
The challenge is immense, particularly in West Africa, worries Mame Yarame Ndao, who, on behalf of the AJS president, chaired the opening ceremony of a high-level panel with community stakeholders on child marriage on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, in Thiès. This event is part of the project "From community to regional: multisectoral approach against child marriage in Senegal and development of a common agenda with Niger," which operates in the Thiès region and in Niger.
According to the AJS, "the figures speak for themselves: in Niger, 76% of girls are married before the age of 18 and 28% before the age of 15. In Senegal, even though we note and welcome an encouraging drop of 16% over the last twenty years, the rates remain alarming: 31% of girls are married before the age of 18 and 9% before the age of 15."
A scourge in the face of which, Ms. Ndao reassures, "our country has made strong commitments by ratifying international and regional texts such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Maputo Protocol." And at the national level, "the Family Code and the Penal Code constitute an essential legal arsenal supported by strategies and action plans aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals."
However, "legal texts are not enough." Because "the complexity of this practice, rooted in sociocultural realities, requires a collective and coordinated response." Hence the rationale for this project.
It is in this spirit that the Association of Senegalese Lawyers, in consortium with the Siggil Jigeen Network and the Senegalese Women's Council, organized a first panel with institutional stakeholders. Today, says Mame Yarame Ndao, "this second panel is dedicated to you, the community stakeholders, because you are the cornerstone of change. You are closest to realities, families, traditions, and solutions. Your role is essential to changing mentalities and protecting our girls."
The AJS thanks its technical and financial partners, the Basque Agency for Cooperation and Solidarity and the Peace Cooperation Assembly (ACPP), without whom this crucial initiative would not have been possible. It hopes that the recommendations of this panel will enable stakeholders to build, together, a better and safer future for all girls in Senegal and the sub-region.
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