There is a burgeoning body of research on the role of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ in decisions regarding early marriage in different parts of the world. Conceptualizing shame and honour as idioms through which gendered socio-economic inequalities are created and maintained, we examine early marriage decisions in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal. While we acknowledge the existence of important differences between countries in terms of the nature and manifestations of shame and honour, we argue that regardless of setting, neither shame and honour, nor female sexuality and chastity can be separated from the socio-economic hierarchies and inequalities. Thus, in this article we seek to identify the cross-cutting dynamic of marriage as a means to overcome the shame associated with young single women’s sexuality, protecting family honour and social standing, and/or securing young women’s social-economic future. Building on our data and available scholarship, we question the potential of emphasizing ‘choice’ as a means of reducing early marriage and advancing women’s emancipation in international development efforts. Instead, we argue in favour of initiatives that engage with young people and caregivers on the ways in which, at grassroot levels, communities may revise narratives of respectability, marriageability and social standing.

关于“耻辱”和“荣誉”在世界不同地区有关早婚的决定中的作用的研究正在迅速发展。将羞辱和荣誉作为成语的概念，通过其创造和维持性别社会经济不平等现象，我们考察了孟加拉国，尼泊尔，巴基斯坦，加纳，布基纳法索和塞内加尔的早婚决定。尽管我们承认国家之间在耻辱和荣誉的性质和表现形式上存在重要差异，但我们认为，无论背景如何，耻辱和荣誉，女性性与贞操都不能与社会经济等级制度和不平等现象区分开。因此，在本文中，我们试图确定婚姻的跨领域动态，以此作为克服与年轻单身女性性行为相关的耻辱的手段，保护家庭荣誉和社会地位，和/或确保年轻妇女的社会经济未来。根据我们的数据和现有的奖学金，我们对强调“选择”作为减少早婚和促进妇女解放国际发展努力的手段的潜力表示怀疑。取而代之的是，我们主张采取与青年人和看护人互动的举措，就社区在基层层面如何修改关于尊重，婚姻和社会地位的叙述进行讨论。