A Gender-Based Gap in HIV Prevalence: The Role of Child Marriage

Margaret Murray’s capstone project examines the relationships between childhood marriages in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rates of HIV in this region, and notes the ways in which the practice of child marriage is a violation of human rights. She argues that a primary sociocultural factor contributing to the disease beginning at a young age is child marriage. She further develops an argument for child marriage’s role in creating and sustaining the disproportionate burden of disease shouldered by women versus men in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among 15-24 year olds. Through statistical research, Murray illustrates the demographics surrounding child marriage and how aspects of child marriage put women at higher risk for HIV than men. She presents alternative opinions on the role that child marriage plays in the gap in disease prevalence as well as biological factors that have been suspected to create differences in susceptibility of disease between men and women.