Analysis of the Language of Child, Early, and Forced Marriages

Child marriage, early marriage, and forced marriage are all interrelated but distinct terms, and they have been combined in every way possible: early and forced marriage; child and forced marriage; early child marriage; and child, early and forced marriage. Often the terms are used interchangeably in the same document, without any explicit definitions. This paper attempts to analyze most of the terms, with the goal of clarifying each label’s breadth, or at least clarifying the breadth of the ambiguity surrounding each label.