A new study has uncovered an emerging form of child marriage in which young boys in fishing communities are being married off to ensure they remain in the area.

The study conducted by NGO Coalition of the Right of the Child found that the boys who have been trafficked to these communities are married off not only as incentive, but also to ensure perpetuity of labor.

The research also reveals that child marriages accounted for a quarter of all human right abuses in the country.

According to the researchers, these practices are gradually taking a national dimension.

Speaking to Starr News the National Coordinator of the Coalition on the right of the child Barima Amankwah said the move is intended to make the boys sober in order to keep them in the communities.

“The idea is to trap them and to make them more sober. Because once you are married you begin to think about your family and the tendency to abscond is minimized. The perpetrators also hope to keep the children of these young boys in the same unfair trade and abuse,” he said.