Underage girls are an underrepresented group in Libya and often have life-altering decisions made for them without their consent, including forced marriages. In the Middle East and North Africa, one in seven girls marries before her 18th birthday, which often means an end to the girls’ schooling and at-risk early childbearing. The practice of child marriage often perptuates a cycle of poverty, low education, and limited economic opportunities for women. UNICEF estimates that child marriage costs economies at least 1.7 percent of GDP.