Some of the main reasons why Ethiopia continues to allow child marriage practices is due to religious beliefs, traditional norms, lack of education, and economic reliance while technically still being illegal.
Rich people were attracted to early marriage as a way to establish an alliance with two strong households in order to ensure land and cattle for their offspring.
Child marriage is actually considered the preferred preventive method compared to more drastic practices such as female genital mutilation.
[2] Men usually gather their friends and ride on horseback to go and collect their future wives while they walk home from grade school.
[3] Ethiopian culture contains several groups of thought that promote the occurrence of child marriage such as the idea that "a girl who is not married by late adolescence represents a failure and disgrace to the family.
[4] The emphasis on family, honor, and purity are all themes in Ethiopian culture that heavily influence societal opinions and practices.
Muslims who support child marriage claim that their religion and the Shariah allows girls to marry at a young age.