‘Child marriage rose in past 2 years’

AMMAN — The number of marriages under the age of 18 has increased by 41 in 2016, compared to the previous year, the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) said on Monday.

Citing a Department of Statistics' report, SIGI said that the number of marriages stood at 10,907 in 2016, compared to 10,866 in 2015.

The total number of marriages above 18, first or repeated marriages, slightly dropped, standing at 81,343 compared to 81,373 in 2015. SIGI noted that, despite the efforts carried out by various institutions to address the issue of child marriage, the number has been rising over the past two years, accounting for 13.4 per cent of the total marriages.