Married women aged 15-19 represent 14.4%

CAIRO – 31 August 2017: The percentage of the Egyptian married women aged between 15 and 19 reaches 14.4 percent; with most of them are from rural areas, while the largest portion of the under-20 married women are in Cairo, with an estimated percentage amounting to 9.1 , according to the National Council for Women.

The lowest share of the under-20 married women is found in Suezand Port Said with 0.7 per cent recorded per each, while North Sinai scores 3.0 percent, and 1.0 percent are recorded in South Sinai, the National Council for Women member Dr. Ahlam Helmi addressing the National Council for Population conference.

The participation of the women Council was aimed at outlining the methodological steps needed to formulate a comprehensive strategy in order to combat the phenomenon of the early/child marriages, which has devastating consequences for women and society as a whole.

During her speech, Helmi highlighted the significance of enlightening society of the danger of glorifying early marriage through holding nationwide workshops, and raising religious and community awareness.

Helmi stressed the importance of developing future plans to end the early marriage phenomenon, linked with the findings of the economic studies prepared by the National Council for Women in cooperation with the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in 2015 to evaluate the causes of gender-based violence and the solutions.