TOKYO -- Child marriages are surging in Asia and other developing countries, raising concerns that the international community may miss its goal of ending the practice by 2030 as pandemic-related causalities surge.
Child marriage is defined by the United Nations and other international organizations as any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. Marriages of this type mostly involve underage girls. About 750 million women under 18 get married, with 30% of them being less than 15 years old, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
