CHILD MARRIAGE AND ITS SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS ON THE GIRL-CHILD IN WA WEST DISTRICT OF UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Early marriage below 18 years in Ghana is against the constitutional rights of the victims. Notwithstanding, some communities within the Wa West District of the Upper West Region consider early marriage as a vehicle for providing protection for young girls. The research was carried out to explore the incidence of child marriage and its socio-economic effects on the girl-child in Wa West District of the Upper West Region of Ghana. The study adopted an exploratory design. Data for the study were generated from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were from key informant interviews, semi-structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions. In all a total of 133 participants from Kachuu. Oli, Siira and Berinyaasi communities were interviewed. The findings of the study indicate that, Girls as young as eleven years are given to marriage even without the knowledge of these girls. On education, the findings showed that girls were unable to receive support for their education, such as purchasing educational materials. It was observed that most of the girls do not know their real ages and so it was difficult to link this condition to ineffectiveness of regulatory frameworks. Also, traditional or customary bottlenecks, poverty, illiteracy and attitude of parents as well as inadequate administrative and experienced staff on the part of the Department of Social Department and other relevant state institutions are challenges identified in this study. The study concluded that child marriage is still prevalent in the District. It is however recommended that the government should provide the DSD with the necessary logistics and enforce or review existing laws meant to prosecute offenders and or so called husbands.