Abstract ID: 56
Authors:
Zhen Ling Ong 1,2
Asma Zahir Ahmed 3
Tharani Loganathan 2
Joelle Mak 1″ (Joint last author)
Cathy Zimmerman 1″ (Joint last author)
Affiliations:
Gender Violence & Health Centre, Department of Global Health & Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Independent community co-researcher, Malaysia.
Abstract:BACKGROUND: Child marriage and early unions (CMEU) affect around 640 million girls worldwide. Global health narratives often frame CMEU as primarily family-driven and inherently harmful linked to risky pregnancies, school dropout, and domestic violence. However, these discourses frequently overlook adolescents’ agency in intimate partnership decisions. OBJECTIVES: This qualitative study explores voluntary adolescent elopement when adolescents run away to marry or live with a partner as a form of adolescent-driven CMEU among Rohingya refugee adolescents in Malaysia. METHODS: We conducted interviews and focus groups with 31 Rohingya girls and boys (aged 10-19), using a youth-centred participatory approach. Participants were recruited through collaborations with refugee women and youth organisations, including 13 Rohingya youth advisors. Fifty-two accounts of elopement, child marriage, and dating were compiled from participants’ first-hand experiences, second-hand accounts, and general perceptions. Data was analysed thematically. RESULTS: Elopement often begins with secret online dating in early adolescence, escalating quickly as couples flee to marry against their families’ wishes with the support of peers. Elopement is underpinned by desires for a better life, whether through seeking romantic love or escaping hardship, especially when refugees without legal status are denied education and livelihood opportunities, or subjected to forced marriage and intimate partner violence. While elopement may reflect constrained empowerment, it is a risky endeavour. Many unions dissolve shortly due to marital strain, deception, and estrangement from dishonoured families, leaving adolescents disillusioned and viewing elopement as a “˜mistake.’ CONCLUSIONS: This study broadens the understanding of CMEU by centring youths’ perspectives and experiences, highlighting the limited yet significant role of adolescent agency alongside coercion, manipulation, and marginalisation. Interventions should go beyond delaying marriage to fostering safer, more fulfilling intimate partnerships. Expanding refugees’ right to stay, work, and study could reduce pressure to enter premature and precarious unions by creating viable alternatives.
Keywords: Migration and Health, Child marriage; Adolesent health; Refugee and asylum seekers; LMIC; Migration; Participatory; Peer-led Unions; Love marriage
