Mapping Children on the Move within Africa 3.2.3.3 Gender inequality and discrimination Among other non-economic factors that movements of children, particularly of the girl child, is attributed to gender discrimination.266 Despite global efforts to reduce gender inequalities, generally women and girls tend to lag behind in terms of respect for their basic freedoms and availability of opportunities.267 This has an influence on their movement behaviour. Empirical evidence indicates that ‘perceived gender discrimination forms a strong and highly robust determinant of the willingness to migrate,’ but often it does no result in actual migration.268 However, research has shown that gender inequality and discrimination in certain instances forced girls to move in fear of abuse and forced marriages and to seek better environment where their rights are protected.269 Child marriages lead to deprivation of rights such as education. A recent AU, campaign to end child marriage in Africa notes that 14 million adolescent and teenage girls are married in the world and often forced into marriage arrangements by their parents.270 Of the 41 states globally with the rate of 30% or more, 30 are in Africa.271 These forms of abuse against the girl-child are pervaded by gender discrimination which regards girls as ‘less worthy of care and protection.’272 The patriarchal culture which engenders gender discrimination has a devastating impact on girls.273 The resultant effect is that some girls are forced to move in order to escape being forced into marriages. All girls facing forced marriages may not be able to move because fleeing is possible if there is room to migrate.274 Indeed, the high prevalence of early marriage has a correlation with lower female migration on account of discrimination because of ‘limited female decision-making abilities,’ in such circumstances.275 The box below explains the limited capacity of girls to escape through migration early marriages and female genital mutilation in situations of constrained decision-making:276 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and movement of girls There are two possible scenarios for how discriminatory social institutions in origin countries influence female migration. On the one hand, women’s desire to escape gender-specific discrimination within their community or family structures could be considered as an additional determinant for their migration. Women may prefer to migrate to avoid early marriage, female genital mutilation or fear (or even experiences) of gender-based violence. There is evidence from south-east Asia of women migrating in order to avoid involuntary marriages…On the other hand, this scenario depends on women’s ability and opportunity to make and carry out that decision. In contexts where discrimination against women restricts their ability to act and their basic rights and freedoms, their capacity to migrate is also severely curtailed. For instance, early marriage is known to reduce a girl’s chance of completing her secondary education, and is linked with limited economic independence and decision-making autonomy within the household… In such contexts, the socio-economic dependence of women on their husbands for key decision-making choices, as well as their low-skills and restricted access to resources thus also limits the opportunity for them to migrate. 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 I Ruyssen & S Salomone, Female migration: a way out of discrimination? (2018) 130 Journal of Development Economics pg 225. As above. Ruyssen (n 269 above) p 227. RMMS, ‘Young and on the Move: Children and youth in mixed migration flows within and from the Horn of Africa’ September 2016. AU, Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa: Call to Action (2013). As above. As above. As above. G Ferrant et al, The role of discriminatory social institutions in female South-South migration (2014) OECD Development Centre p 6. As above. Ferrant (n 277 above) p 3. 55