A report published Tuesday by French newspaper Le Parisien argued that climate-related disasters can increase child marriage in developing countries by damaging household income and shelter. The article cited Bangladesh, Kenya and other countries, and described cases involving girls who were married at 12 and 15.
The newspaper drew on a 2026 Plan International report based on surveys of 5,000 girls and young women in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal and Zimbabwe. According to Le Parisien’s account of the findings, 36% of respondents said they had observed more child marriage following climate-related disasters, and 11% said they had personally experienced child marriage.
Those results describe respondents’ reported experiences and observations. They do not, by themselves, establish that human-caused climate change directly caused any particular marriage. The material provided does not include the full Plan International report or further detail about how the survey was conducted.
Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, criticized the newspaper’s framing in comments to Fox News Digital. She said attributing child marriage to climate change shifts attention away from the people and beliefs responsible for exploiting children. Descovich also argued that strong families, parental rights and personal accountability are important protections for children.
Le Parisien described a 12-year-old Bangladeshi girl who, according to the paper, was married four days after boys harassed her at a cyclone shelter. The article attributed details about the girl’s later health to a teenage friend interviewed by the newspaper, reporting that the girl gave birth to a baby who died and experienced serious health complications.
Another case involved Runa, a Bangladeshi girl whose widowed mother arranged her marriage after a cyclone destroyed the family’s livestock and income. Runa, who was 15 at the time, told Australia’s ABC News in a July interview that she did not want to marry and had hoped to continue her education. The source material says her husband’s family later agreed to let her return to school with help from aid organizations. Now 17 and a mother, Runa said studying again had given her hope.
Plan International representative Tanushree Soni previously told ABC News that financial strain can prompt families to arrange marriages, saying families may view marriage as a way to reduce their economic burden. The source material also identifies poverty, gender norms, harmful traditional practices, limited access to education and climate-related disasters as factors associated with child marriage, citing UNICEF.
Child marriage was widespread in Bangladesh before the 2026 report. UNICEF figures cited in the material show that 47.2% of Bangladeshi women ages 20 to 24 had married before age 18, compared with 51.4% in 2019. Bangladesh’s 2017 Child Marriage Restraint Act generally bars marriage for girls under 18, but includes an exception for underage marriage with parental consent and court approval in special circumstances.
Fox News Digital said it contacted Le Parisien and Plan International for comment but had not received responses at the time of publication. The available account presents a reported association between disaster-related hardship and child marriage, alongside criticism of how broadly the climate connection was characterized.
