Girls should be Girls: The Impact of Child Marriage on Human Development

Child marriage is a violation of Human Rights and an impediment to social and economic development, it is strongly rooted in gender inequality. In Brazil, this practice has a predominantly informal and consensual quality, they often involve adult men married to girls in early puberty. The objective of this study is to synthesize the literature on the impact of child marriage on the most diverse indicators of human development such as education, labor market, health, fertility, violence and female empowerment. In summary, the literature reveals that child marriage has a negative impact on these indicators, and this corroborates the urge to eliminate this phenomenon, which will ensure women’s right to a full economic and social life.


INTRODUCTION
Child marriage is defined by UNICEF as a union, whether formal or informal, involving girls and/or boys younger than 18 years of age (UNICEF, 2017), being of little importance the fact that the earliest age for marriage with parental or legal permission is different throughout societies, and not necessarily related to of development level. For instance, in Brazil, just like and adolescents. Early marriage in these regions represents a form of protection of girls against eventual attacks, even though, if they are abused, they must marry their aggressors in order to preserve the family's "honor" (TASCÓN et al., 2016).
Even though this is not a reality in other parts of the world, child marriage is not confined to these regions, that is, it exists in other countries, where there is no ritualizing and formalization of child marriage. Besides correlating the girls' existence with their vulnerability and poverty, as will be done up ahead, it is necessary to ponder upon the role of the girls' motivationthe internal desire or preferences that lead to actionand agencythe capacity of individual actionin the process of child marriage (LE GRAND, 2003). Thus, some girls perceive marriage as a possibility of escaping familiar conflicts; as an expression of independence and freedom by means of leaving their original home; as a way of experiencing a socially respected form of love, or even as a way of escaping socioeconomic vulnerability or an unwanted pregnancy (TAYLOR et al., 2015;TASCÓN et al., 2016;KNAUTH et al., 2006).
In this sense, as exposed by the Montevideo Agreement 6 , young people must be recognized as subjects of law, and their progressive autonomy over their body and sexuality must be respected. However, the extreme poverty background and the high vulnerability of a large portion of girls that choose an early stable relationship challenge the understanding of true available choices (TAYLOR et al., 2015).
Having in mind the correlation between vulnerability and child marriage, the consequences of an early stable relationship for girls must be considered, whether they be formal or informal, which translate into anticipation of adulthood and limitation of rights while they are still children or adolescents (HERNÁNDEZ, GARCÍA, SUÁREZ, 2015). The literature highlights the presence of negative externalities to early stable relationships for the adolescents themselves and for society as a whole, starting from the low rates of schooling and likely that these girls, along with their future families, should find themselves in vulnerable situations, thus replicating the intergenerational poverty cycle (NGUYEN et al., 2012).

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Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 6 In Brazil, according to the data of the demographic census tabbed by the authors (IBGE, 2010), 88,558 Brazilian children and adolescents aged between 10 and 14 lived in marital union in 2010, 74% of them being girls, and 26% boys. For the age group from 15 to 17 years old, 567,378 married adolescents were observed, 86% of them female, and 14% male. As to the nature of the marital union among children and adolescents from 10 to 14 years, it has been observed that 12% of them have happened by means of a formal marriage (civil and religious marriage, or else only civil marriage), and 88% by means of informal marriage (only religious marriage or consented union). The same informality pattern may be observed for the age group of 15 to 17 years, in which 10% of the marriages were formal, and 90% informal. The consequences for human development, however, tend to be different for both groups, being harsher the earlier the commitment is made (NGUYEN et al., 2012).
In a study about the determinants of informal marriage in Brazil, Greene and Rao (1995) point out that the age difference between husband and wife was bigger in informal unions than in official ones. Other factors, such as early pregnancy, low level of education, living in a rural area, and being outside the workforce have an impact over the choice for this kind of marriage.
Furthermore, the results indicate a more spread-out prevalence of informal marriages in the North region, followed by the Northeast and Central-West, which, according to the authors, reflect a historically special distribution of racial groups and socioeconomic status throughout the country.

METHOD
This study methodology was raised from a bibliographic and documental review. The studies have been selected according to quality and relevance. National and international articles published in journals have been used, as well as international agencies and nongovernmental organizations that incorporate this agenda frequently to their programs. The preliminary selection of the articles has been made through the SciELO repository (Scientific Eletronic Library Online), through CAPES/MEC's Portal Periódicos, and through EconLit (American Economic Association). The search for the term "casamento infantil", in Portuguese, has showed no results in none of the three research sources. Therefore, a choice was made for searching for the English term, "child marriage", which has returned the following results: SciELO (7); EconLit (17); CAPES/MEC journals (2.531). Aiming at measuring the impacts of child marriage upon human development, the search has been refined by the terms "child marriage" and each one of the analyzed factors (Ex.: "child marriage", "education").
After assessment of the summaries, 46 works that contributed explicitly to the problem of the research were selected according to each of the analyzed factors. Most of the studies reflect case studies of specific countries, especially developing countries and countries located in the sub-saharan region and in the South of Asia, where there is a bigger rate of child marriage. A choice for the inclusion of relevant national and international works related to the theme has _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 8 also been made; however, their identification factors are different (e.g. "sexual behavior" "interpersonal relationships").
Six ways through which the practice of child marriage or early stable union negatively affects Human Developed have been identified. They are: 1. Low levels of education and dropout rate; 2. Reduction of labor supply; 3. Increase of the fertility rate; 4. Worsening of health results; 5. Domestic violence; 6. Women's disempowerment. It is important to highlight that these transmission channels have mutually reinforcing effects, contributing as a whole to the intergenerational poverty cycle. Figure 1 represents the conceptual framework that maps these relationships, which will be explored in the following sections.

Child marriage and educational results
There are many factors leading girls to abandon school in their adolescence. These factors may be understood on a macro and social level as well as on a micro and interpersonal level. On the macro and social level, we have as an example the regional and cultural barriers, related to the background where these young girls come from. In some regions or communities, especially on those with high poverty levels, education is given little value by the general population, representing a barrier to the continuation of studies. The low quality of teaching, as well as the difficulty of access in many regions, represent as well a social and economic barrier to schooling (BHAGAVATHEESWARAN et al., 2016).
On the other hand, on the micro and interpersonal levels, there should be highlighted lack of family support, economic costs, non-valuing of education by the girls themselves, frequently accompanied by lack of perspectives, pregnancy during the adolescence, and early marriage (BHAGAVATHEESWARAN et al., 2016). However, giving these girls the opportunity to finish their studies, thus developing their abilities and capabilities, becomes a preventive factor for early union or child marriage (KAUSHIK; KAUSHIK; KAUSHIK, 2006;SMITH;STONE;KAHANDO, 2012). This is the reason why identifying the effects of child marriage on the educational results is not a trivial task due to its simultaneity: Girls get married younger because they are not in school or are they not in school because they get married earlier?
In some societies, cultural rules and values that relate the low schooling of the girls to early union prevail. For instance, the custom of marrying in face of a payment, which may or may not be a monetary value previously agreed upon between the engaged parties' families.
This transaction may occur in several ways, but are typically defined in two categories: transfers from the groom's family to that of the bride (bride price) and transfer from the bride's family to that of the groom (dowry). China is a classic example in which both systems currently coexist, especially in rural areas; whereas the bride price is a tradition that is stronger in northern regions of Africa, the dowry occurs mainly in India and other countries in the Asian South. In Brazil and Mexico, the dowry practice was common during the colonial period, but was extinguished Regarding expectations, difficulty in labor market integration associated with low productivity reduces efforts toward completing the regular educational pathway (PARSONS et al., 2015). The idea behind this fact is that girls often grow up hearing that it is not worth to invest in education, since their social role is to raise a family and to take care of their home and children (TAYLOR et al., 2015). The absence of women in leadership positions contributes to _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 10 this, which reinforces the stigma according to which investing in education for girls does not pay off, for the career choices are limited (BEAMAN et al., 2012). Furthermore, belief in the stereotype according to which boys perform better at school reinforces gender discrimination within private homes, leading parents to invest in the boys' education in detriment to that of the girls (WONDON; NGUYEN; TSIMPO, 2016).
Early unplanned pregnancy also shows up as an important factor to school dropout, although it is often the cause and consequence of early union. When pregnancy is not the very reason for marriage, the birth of the first child typically coincides with it (TAYLOR et al., 2015; LIMA, 2018). The consequences of pregnancy during adolescence over education are immediate and change the entire life course. The unfavorable socio-economic profile of these adolescent mothers makes the first consequence leaving the schooling behind in order to take on the responsibility of taking care of the children, especially due to the lack of social and familiar support.
Field and Ambrus (2008) have explored the hypothesis that girls drop out of schools in Bangladesh due to marriage or early union. According to the authors, for girls that are married, every additional year in marriage leads to a decrease of 4% to 6% on the likelihood of completing secondary school. On the other hand, every additional year in marriage may increase the likelihood of literacy by 5.6%, and schooling by 0.22 years. Knauth et al. (2006) have also demonstrated that schooling, especially for women, is a key factor for postponing the union between young people in the case of Brazil. Besides the girls' education, Smith, Stone, and Kahando (2012) have also highlighted the importance of mother's education as a preventive factor to early union. According to the authors, when mothers have been schooled, whether formally or informally 8 , the acquired knowledge has a direct effect over the delay in the child marriage or the early union of their daughters. The mechanisms that govern this are connected to the increase in women empowerment, which increases capability of participating or health, making them more exposed to sexually transmissible diseases and increase of fertility; women disempowerment, since that, for many girls, school is not only a space for formal and informal education, but also a social space where support networks are built, contributing to their mobility and engagement in subjects and activities pertaining to the community (PARSONS et al., 2015;ABDULLAH;QURESHI;QUAYES, 2015).

Child marriage and labor market
The relationship between child marriage and labor market may be construed in two ways: if, on the one hand, child marriage has a negative impact on participation and productivity of women in the workforce, on the other hand, lack of opportunity in the labor market has decisive effects on marriage, which is often regarded as "the best available option". Sviatschi (2013) has demonstrated that the expansion of opportunities in the labor market may be a key variable to postponing the decision of getting married or in an early union with the partner. In order to do this, the author has studied the growth of the free commerce zone of the Dominican Republic, and has found out that a larger participation of women in the workforce has provided a positive impact of 1.6 years over the age of the first marriage, and a decrease of 30% in child marriage.
On its turn, child marriage may influence the participation of women in the workforce in several ways. Three indirect channels through which this may happen are highlighted in the literature. The first channel corresponds to the high levels of capability and education of girls that get married early. The second channel is related to the gender rules that accompany child marriage, and determine the participation of women, almost exclusively, in unpaid domestic work. The third channel is related to the high rate of fertility and complications resulting from early pregnancy that may push women away from the labor market.

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Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 12 The lack of opportunities in the labor market is mainly related to the low education of girls that get into an early marriage (GROWN; GUPTA; KES, 2005;PARSONS et al., 2015).
To the extent that middle school and higher education are highly associated with participation in the workforce, but most girls that get married early do not reach these school levels (FIELD, AMBRUS, 2008), it is possible to predict that their participation in the workforce will be negatively affected. With reduced schooling, the capabilities required by formal work are affected, reducing their participation in the labor market (GROWN; GUPTA; KES, 2005;PARSONS et al., 2015).
Transition from childhood and adolescence to a "forced" adult life is accompanied and strongly influenced by traditional gender rules, which assign to women the role of caretakers and party responsible for the domestic work (TAYLOR et al., 2015). Thus, upon getting into an early marriage, girls are led to unpaid domestic work, generating negative effects over decisions of participation in the workforce. These barriers are particularly verifiable during the early stages of marriage and family formation, and are stronger the greater the age difference between wife and husband is (PARSONS et al., 2015). Furthermore, isolation from social coexistence and lack of mobility may keep them from access to markets and formal work opportunities (UNFPA, 2012).
Another aggravating child marriage-related factor that limits the participation of women in the workforce is the high fertility rate. The age at the first marriage is strongly related to early pregnancy (TAYLOR et al., 2015), which makes the girls take more responsibility wen taking care of the children, resulting in school drop-out, with negative consequences over the labor market (DAHL, 2010). Besides, early pregnancy-related issues with the mother's health generate larger risks of complications and child mortality (NOUR, 2009 collective level, contributing negatively to the development and the economic growth of communities (PARSONS et al., 2015).

Child marriage and health results
Child marriage or early union have a negative impact on several health results. Although a majority of studies tends to focus on negative impacts over sexual and reproductive health, marital life during adolescence is also associated to higher rates of mental disorders such as  (2011) have showed that women married before turning 18 are more likely to develop depression, anxiety, and to become addicted to tobacco when compared to women that got married as adults.
9 The authors have defined child marriage as the formal or informal union before 18 years of age. The study sample had 24,254 women aged 18 or more. From the total of women, 76.87% (18,645) were married, and from these, 11.69% (2,181) got married before completing 18 years: 51,5% (1.124) aged 16 or less, and 12,09% (136 out of 1.124) at 14 years. Using the complex sample design, the authors highlight that these numbers correspond to the national population of: 9.406.523 women that got married at 16 years or less, and 1.688.752 women that got married at 15 years or less.

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Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 14 The girls that got an early marriage are also more exposed to sexually transmissible diseases BOEHMER, 2013). One of the main difficulties of child marriage, even when consented, is the financial and emotional dependency in which the girls find themselves, giving room to psychological abuse and excessive controls on the husbands' part.
Men The worst health results have direct and indirect impacts on human development. In a direct way, negative impacts on health change the destiny of domestic resources, increasing generally unforeseen expenses with medication and health care, which leaves these families in an even more vulnerable situation. Besides, impacts may also happen indirectly, through the 10 Arterial hypertension-related convulsions during pregnancy.

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Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 15 reduction of income and productivity due to poor health conditions, thus reducing future income. Intergenerational effects upon the physical and mental health of children must be highlighted as well. Beyond physical health problems, such as low weight at birth, impaired immune system, and poor nutrition, among others, the effect of exposing children and adolescents to violence situations are immediate and last in the long term, affecting all of the child's life cycle, including school performance (PARSONS et al., 2015;.

Child marriage and Fertility
The increase in the fertility ratean estimate of the number of children throughout life among women that get married or in a union with their partners at young age is frequently reported as an adverse effect of child marriage (NASRULLAH, 2014;RAJ et al., 2009).
According to the United Nations Population Fund, approximately 16 million girls aged between 15 and 19 give birth every year in developing countries. In nine out of ten cases, the adolescent mother is married (UNFPA, 2012). Child marriage has negative impacts over the number of children, the health interval between pregnancies, and, as a result, over the results of maternal health as the spontaneous termination of pregnancy . In this way, forestalling child marriage means reducing adverse effects on early pregnancy and its related risks (UNFPA, 2012).
The reasoning behind high fertility in child marriage range from cultural pressure, such as the need for girls to prove their fertility, thus ensuring their identity, status, and earning respect as an adult; the husband's wish to have more children, and the preference for male children; the high child mortality and the regard for children as workforce; agency problems within homes, where girls have low, if any, negotiation power; and lack of information and/or access to contraceptive methods.
Adolescence is characterized by a transition stage from childhood to adult life, marked by physical, psychological, and behavioral changes, as well as by the development of sexuality.
Doubts about their fertility, often alongside pressure from the husband, especially when a dowry must be paid, lead girls to try to "prove it" as soon as they get married (NOUR, 2006). The need to prove their fertility comes not only as a physiological ordeal for the body, but also as a need for representation of the gender social role, since, in the social construct, maternity is seen as a "natural" experience for the feminine gender, a consequence of biologic predisposition. Being a mother becomes part of the construction of these girls' identities.

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Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 16 Poverty is also a determining factor for the increase of fertility in private homes. One of the identified causes for the high demand on the part of the families in underdeveloped countries is the generational "agreement" about the ways through which obligations and rewards are distributed among generations. Children begin to work as soon as they are able to do it, and dedicate themselves throughout life to taking care of their parents until old age. Thus, the lack of children may be understood as a deprivation of assets, putting at risk the possibility of getting care and financial health by the end of one's life (ESWARAN, 2006;DELPRATO et al., 2015). Furthermore, the high child mortality rate that expose children to a considerable risk increases the number of desired children on the part of families as a means of "compensation" to prematurely dead children, who will not be able to contribute to the generational "agreement" (ESWARAN, 2006).
Gender discrimination within private homes also reinforces the increase in fertility to the extent that several attempts are made until a male child is born .
This is because men are seen as natural heirs to their fathers, often remaining in the familiar environment with their new family and contributing to the support of the private home throughout life, whereas girls are expected to follow their husband's steps, benefiting their husband's families, rather than their own, with investments made in them (WODON et al., 2016).
The lack of agency of girls within marriage makes them have little or no control over their sexual or reproductive life. Contrarily to the freedom that was desired and projected upon marriage, when consented, what is witnessed in these private homes is a highly unequal power relationship. For instance, married girls rarely have any say on family planning at all. The practice of "coitus interruptus" is frequently employed among couples, diminishing usage of condoms, and, as a result, increasing the chances of pregnancy (TAYLOR et al., 2015).
Furthermore, the lack of information and/or access to contraceptive methods also contribute to the increase in fertility (RAJ et al., 2009;UNFPA, 2012). mothers, reducing the proportion of children within particular homes allows for a "relief" on expenditures with the children's health and education, thus perpetuating a virtuous cycle.

Child marriage and domestic violence
Child marriage or early union, on their own, can be regarded as a form of violence, to the extent that they contribute negatively to the physical, mental, and emotional development of girls. There are many kinds of violence practiced by the partners; violent behaviors may take on the form of physical aggression, ranging from psychological attacks to threatening behaviors, forced sexual activity, and rape (JAMABO, 2012). All of them, collectively or individually, have severe negative effects over the physical and mental condition of the girls, including their reproductive health (PARSONS et al., 2015;NASRULLAH;ZAKAR;ZAKAR, 2014).
Domestic violence within marriage is a direct reflex of institutionalized masculine dominance in some societies. Due to the hierarchic relationship established between genders, men have a feeling of ownership over their wives' life, which makes them feel entitled to make use of physical or psychological violence in order to impose their will and punish any kind of behavior they might consider socially inadequate COURTENAY, 2000). Jayachandran (2015) presents some stylized facts about gender gaps and economic development, showing that the proportion of people who agree with the sentence: "Giving your wife a beating is justifiable if she goes out without giving notice and there is an argument", used as proxy for average tolerance to gender violence within the population, varies from 1% to 85% between countries, being superior in poor countries.
Girls that get married early, whether this union be formal or informal, are more given to believing that some episodes of violence are acceptablefor instance, the aforementioned situation -, and are, therefore, more subject to experiencing these situations throughout life (JAMABO, 2012). There is still an aggravating factor regarding the frequency of these occurrences when the age difference between the girl and the partner is too big (UNICEF, 2014). Emotional and financial dependency, often accompanied by lack of family support, limit the girls' alternatives for abandoning the background in which they suffer aggressions (PARSONS et al., 2015;YOUNT et al., 2016;JAMABO, 2012). Besides, from the feminine standpoint, marriage represents social prestige, being part of the construction of an identity.
Child marriage also increases the probability of domestic violence through disempowerment throughout women's life course. Girls who get into an early marriage tend to leave school early and, as a result, find greater difficulty in being allocated in the labor market, have little economic resources, and are generally pulled away from social coexistence. Given these circumstances, young brides tend to have a lower level of self-esteem and self-efficacy, becoming more vulnerable, for instance, to psychological violence practiced by their partners (TAYLOR et al., 2015;CRANDALL et al., 2016).
The absence of law-supported protective measures also contributes to the increase of domestic violence, making physical and sexual abuse performed by the partners one of the most complex subjects within the scope of child marriage. This is because marriage ends up corroborating with the false idea of implicit consent of the victim to the sexual act. Despite the advancements in the marital rape explicit criminalization law, especially in developed countries, there are still economies where this kind of disposition does not exist. In the Middle East and in North Africa, for instance, only Malta has laws against rape inside marriage.
Besides, in many regions, the so-called exemptions from rape law still exist, the right to initiate criminal action against husbands being forbidden to women (WORLD BANK, 2017).
The consequences of violence against girls over human development may be direct as well as indirect. In a direct way, negative impacts are reflected upon education of physical and emotional well-being from damages caused to physical and mental health, such as bodily injury, chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, gynecological problems, including sexually transmissible diseases, depression, and post-traumatic stress (NASRULLAH; ZAKAR; ZAKAR, 2014). As a result, family investments are oftentimes altered, increasing unforeseen expenses with health care (PARSONS, et al., 2015). In an indirect way, mobility deprivation under physical and emotional constraints has consequences over income and productivity, as well as other negative consequences caused by isolation (e.g. lack of information) (NASRULLAH; ZAKAR; ZAKAR, 2014). Besides, the effects may also be experienced by future generations, having negative impacts over health and education, and reinforcing the acceptability of violence (PARSONS et al., 2015). Feminine empowerment may be understood as the development of human, social, and economic resources that might allow women to take some individual power and conquer spaces upon making decisions (CRANDALL et al., 2016;YOUNT;CRANDALL;CHEONG, 2018). These relationships sometimes must be characterized as abusive relationships, since men aim to marry younger girls, who, according to masculine thinking, are easier to control (TAYLOR et al., 2015). Thus, as soon as they are married, men feel entitled to control their wives' access to and participation in social environments, implementing a patriarchal 11 See the complete version at https://nacoesunidas.org/pos2015/agenda2030/ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 20 relationship model. This power relationship is further intensified when there is the component of age difference between wife and husband. Thus, an isolated environment is created around these girls, who see themselves with no alternatives or support to develop their autonomy, keeping them restricted, for instance, to health information, education, family planning, sexual activity, among others (PARSONS et al., 2015;DUFLO, 2011).

Child marriage and feminine empowerment
The disempowerment of girls affects human development negatively through negative effects over their physical and emotional health, which often may unleash depression symptoms due to the low levels of self-esteem, self-control and lack of confidence in oneself, in many cases leading them to believe they are incapable of transforming their own lives; through interruption of the process of acquiring human resources, such as education, general knowledge, and personal abilities, construction of support networks, sense of right and mobility. Another

Summary of Literature
The causes for child marriage or early union have economic, cultural, and social aspects, which are frequently related. Chart 1 presents a summary of the main channels through which child marriage negatively affects human development, such as mentioned in the previous chapters.
Chart 1 -Summary of the transmission channels through which child marriage affects Human Development Indexes Human Development Indexes

Educational results
Macro and social-level factors: regional and cultural barriers, low recovery and quality of studies in some locations.

Bhagavatheeswaran et al. (2016)
Micro and interpersonal factors: lack of family support, economic costs and lack of belief in return from education on the part of girls themselves.

Labor Market
Labor market opportunities the increase in feminine participation in the workforce is a key factor for the postponing of child marriage.
Sviatschi (2013) Low levels of capabilities and schooling: the lack of opportunities in the labor market is mainly related to the low education of girls that get into an early marriage.
Grown; Gupta; Kes (2005) Parsons et al. (2015) Field e Ambrus (2008) Gender rules: girls are led to unpaid domestic work, generating negative effects over decisions of participation in the workforce.
Taylor et al. (2015) Parsons et al. (2015) UNFPA (2012) Complications resulting from early pregnancy: early pregnancy-related issues with the mother's health generate larger risks of complications and child mortality. Cultural pressures: Doubts about their fertility, often alongside pressure from the husband, lead girls to try to "prove it" as soon as they get married . Nour (2009) Child mortality and viewing children as an investment: Children begin to work as soon as they are able to do it, and dedicate themselves throughout life to taking care of their parents until old age.

Domestic Violence
Hierarchic relationship established between genders: men have a feeling of ownership over their wives' life, which makes them feel entitled to make use of physical or psychological violence in order to impose their will.
Courtenay (2000) Jayachandran (2015) Construction of the feminine identity: girls can internalize patriarchy's social rules, naturalizing the dominant behavior, oftentimes aggressive, of men, in order to stay in a relationship.
Jamabo ( Protective measures: The absence of protective measures supported by law also contributes to the increase in domestic violence. World Bank (2017) Women's Empowerment Agency and decision taking within private homes: the lack of information, capabilities, and support networks help increasing social and economic isolation, reducing the girls' agency.

CONCLUSION
Although the occurrence of child marriage has been decreasing through the past decades all over the world, this practice is still common and frequent in some countries, to the point of being supported by law (WONDON et al., 2017). One tends to consider marriage as a consented union between two individuals who choose to build a family together. However, when talking about child marriage, this is often a one-sided decision that may come either from the groom's or from the bride's family. Even when there is consent from both parties, that is, when the girl has expressed any level of agency about marriage, such as what happens in Brazil, where there is a prevalence of consented, informal marriages, it may be observed that these "marriages", on _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Revista Desenvolvimento Socioeconômico em debate v.6 n.2 (2020) 23 the part of the girls, is actually a combination of individual and structural factors producing nefarious consequences.
What may be concluded about the literature on this topic is that early marriage is deeply rooted in gender inequality and reflects discriminatory social rules about women's role within society. The parents' desire to control their children's and adolescents' sex life in order to preserve the honor of the family, the belief that women need a husband, the lack of economic perspective about the future of the girls, the poverty of private homes, all of these examples make marriage sound like a solution. However, it is documented that, upon marrying early, these children and adolescents end up perpetuating the poverty and inequality cycle, thus reinforcing gender inequalities.
One of the problems that emerge around child marriage is about the local background in which it develops. In some regions, this practice is widespread and normalized as to not be seen as a problem (TAYLOR et al., 2015). Giving the greater visibility of the theme, increasing debate and discussion is as important as creating/increasing life quality and well-being opportunities for these children. Although it is part of the "United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals", little attention has been given to the causes and consequences of child marriage in the country (TAYLOR et al., 2015).
Starting from a systematic assessment of the efforts to discourage child marriage, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has identified five approaches to the fight against this practice, which, according to empirical evidence, have been presenting meaningful results.
They are the following: 1. Empowering girls through the development of their abilities and increasing their support networks; 2. Improving access to formal and quality education; 3.
Mobilizing the communities in order to modify cultural rules that affect girls negatively; 4.
Improving the economic situation of the girls, as well as that of their families; and 5. Promoting favorable legal and political environments (UNFPA, 2012). Thus, this study has tried to raise debate and alert the population about the harms of the practice of child marriage or early union, persisting in many regions of the country.