WHAT'S ON MY MIND!!! ITS THE GIRL CHILD........Say No to Girl Child Slavery. EPISODE 6. EARLY AND FORCED MARRIAGE IN ETHIOPIA Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. The legal age of marriage is 18 for both males and females,16 but it is widely ignored. Ethiopia is the site of some of the most abusive marital practices, such as marriage by abduction and forced unions between cousins (abusuma). Early marriage and pregnancy are the most common challenges faced many teenage girls in Ethiopia.