Findings mixed in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Each year, more than 10 million girls under the age of 18 marry, usually under force of local tradition and social custom. Almost half of these compulsory marriages occur in South Asia. A new study suggests that more than two decades of effort to eliminate the practice has produced mixed results…. Read the full story from the UCSD Newsroom

About the investigators:
- Anita Raj, PhD, pictured above, led the study. Dr. Raj, a developmental psychologist, is professor of medicine in the Division of Global Public Health.
- Lotus McDougal, MPH, is a PhD student in the UC San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, Global Health track.
- Melanie L. A. Rusch, PhD, MSc, is assistant professor of medicine and an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Division of Global Public Health.
Their report is published in a special Global Health issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. | Read the report
Article citation: JAMA. 2012;307(19):2027-2029. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.3497.