There is a new UNICEF report on boys who get married. It says that 115 million boys and men were married as children. About 23 million of these were married before they were 15. It is UNICEF's first in-depth study of child grooms. A lot of news focuses on young girls being forced into marriage as child brides. The UNICEF report looks at forced marriages for boys. UNICEF looked at data from 82 countries. It found that child marriage among boys is common in countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. The Central African Republic has the highest rate of child grooms.
UNICEF commented on how child marriage damages boys. It said: "Marriage steals childhood. Child grooms are forced to take on adult responsibilities for which they may not be ready. Early marriage brings early fatherhood, and with it added pressure to provide for a family, cutting short education and job opportunities." UNICEF added: "When we think about child marriage we often think about girls, and rightly so because girls are most affected, but boys do marry in childhood." It said the boys are still children and it is unfair they have to look after a family.