French Newspaper Claims Climate Change Is Fueling Child Marriage, Including Among 12-Year-Old Girls

A French newspaper claims that climate change is accelerating child marriage in Bangladesh and other countries, sparking fierce backlash from "Mothers for Liberty."

French newspaper Le Parisien claimed climate change is accelerating child marriage in developing countries, citing cases involving girls as young as 12. (iStock)

Climate change is accelerating child marriage in developing countries, including among girls as young as 12, a French newspaper said on Tuesday, citing research showing that natural disasters are forcing poor families to marry their daughters off at younger ages.

Le Parisien's report, "She was only 12: climate change, the new accelerator of child marriage," directly links climate-related disasters to early marriages in Bangladesh, Kenya and other countries.

"In Bangladesh, Kenya and elsewhere, climate disasters are making child marriage worse," the newspaper said in part translated from French. "By destroying incomes and homes, they force some families to marry their daughters off at a young age."

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"Blaming climate change for the abhorrent practice of marrying off girls as young as 12 seems downright barbaric ... but it's the latest absurd excuse for abhorrent behavior that shifts responsibility to the environment rather than to the people and ideologies that choose to exploit children," Deskovich said.

"At Moms for Liberty, we see this same mentality every day in America, where activists blame society, systems, or external factors for harming children. Instead of calling for strong families, parental rights, and personal accountability that truly protect our children," she continued.

An international report found that 36 percent of 5,000 young women and girls surveyed in five countries reported an increase in child marriage following climate-related disasters. (iStock)

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The French newspaper based most of its reporting on Plan International's 2026 report, which examines the relationship between climate disasters and child marriage.

Researchers studied 5,000 girls and young women in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal and Zimbabwe. According to Le Parisien, 36 percent reported an increase in child marriage following weather-related disasters, while 11 percent said they had personally experienced child marriage.

The newspaper cited the case of a 12-year-old Bangladeshi girl who reportedly got married four days after being abused by boys in a cyclone shelter. According to a friend of the teenager interviewed by this outlet, the girl later gave birth to a baby that died, leaving her with serious health complications.

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Another case involved Rona, a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl whose widowed mother arranged her marriage after a cyclone destroyed a family's livestock and income.

Rona explained how marriage interrupted her education during a July interview with Australia's ABC News.

Rona said: I didn't want to get married. "I wanted to continue my education. This decision made me feel uncomfortable and helpless."

However, Rona was eventually allowed to attend school with the help of aid organizations after her husband's family agreed to allow her to continue her education, according to ABC News. Rona, now 17 and a mother, said going back to school has given her renewed hope for the future.

Child marriage was widespread in Bangladesh before the last report. In 2025, 47.2 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were married before turning 18, down from 51.4 percent in 2019, according to a UNICEF survey.

UNICEF identifies poverty, entrenched gender norms, harmful traditional practices, barriers to education, and climate-related disasters as contributing factors to child marriage.

Bangladesh's 2017 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act generally prohibits marriage for girls under the age of 18, although the law includes an exception that allows child marriage with parental consent and court approval in certain circumstances.

Plan International believes that climate-related disasters place additional financial pressures on families, especially those dependent on agriculture and livestock. Plan International's Tanushree Soni previously explained the economics behind child marriage in an interview with ABC News.

"Financial stress is a driver," Sonny said. Families seek to reduce the burden because they do not consider girls as part of their family.

The research describes a link between climate-related disasters and child marriage, although the survey findings alone do not prove that human-caused climate change directly caused the individual marriages described in the newspaper report.

CJ graduated from Long Beach State University in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Masters in Journalism.

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