Mentor/s
Dr. Akbulut
Participation Type
Paper Talk
Abstract
The rates of child marriage within the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan have steadily increased since the camp opened in 2012. The leading explanation for this trend typically embeds itself in a lack of education, knowledge of reproductive services, financial stability, adequate police enforcement and legal jurisdiction, as well as play and socialization accessibility for children. This study seeks to enumerate the primary driving causes of the increased rates of child marriage for girls within the camp by analyzing data collected from the Inter-Agency Child Protection and Gender Based Violence Assessment in the Za’atari Refugee Camp conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This assessment was conducted by a task force assembled by the CP and GBV Sub-Working Group in Jordan. The Task Force members used three main strategies for data collection: Key Informant (KI) interviews; focus group discussion (FGD) interviews, and a Safety Audit. Contrary to what has been presumed to be the most viable account for this phenomenon, and subsequent uptick within Za’atari, upon analyzation of the data, our findings indicate that the most significant factors in the increase of child marriage rates within Za’atari are limited accessibility to reproductive services, limited economic and employment opportunity, and a strong adherence to traditional gender roles and values of Syrian culture.
College and Major available
Global Studies BA, History, Political Science
Location
Session 21: Digital Commons & West Campus West Building Room 224
Start Day/Time
4-28-2023 10:30 AM
End Day/Time
4-28-2023 11:45 AM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Causes of the Increased Rates of Child Marriage in the Za'atari Refugee Camp
Session 21: Digital Commons & West Campus West Building Room 224
The rates of child marriage within the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan have steadily increased since the camp opened in 2012. The leading explanation for this trend typically embeds itself in a lack of education, knowledge of reproductive services, financial stability, adequate police enforcement and legal jurisdiction, as well as play and socialization accessibility for children. This study seeks to enumerate the primary driving causes of the increased rates of child marriage for girls within the camp by analyzing data collected from the Inter-Agency Child Protection and Gender Based Violence Assessment in the Za’atari Refugee Camp conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This assessment was conducted by a task force assembled by the CP and GBV Sub-Working Group in Jordan. The Task Force members used three main strategies for data collection: Key Informant (KI) interviews; focus group discussion (FGD) interviews, and a Safety Audit. Contrary to what has been presumed to be the most viable account for this phenomenon, and subsequent uptick within Za’atari, upon analyzation of the data, our findings indicate that the most significant factors in the increase of child marriage rates within Za’atari are limited accessibility to reproductive services, limited economic and employment opportunity, and a strong adherence to traditional gender roles and values of Syrian culture.
Students' Information
Political Science, History, Global Studies major
Honors Student
Spring 2023