Rachana Sunar, Oslo Freedom Forum
In each Stories Issue, we collect stories from women around the world. These stories are authentic, raw, and unapologetic. They are emotional. They are stories not often told. We hope their stories of strength will spark necessary conversations about child marriage and, most importantly, change these practices for the betterment of women everywhere.
"Life is like a guitar. It can play happiness and sadness. You have to listen to both. When I see my situation --- my forced engagement, my school, my community -- I tolerate everything and say to myself that if a person can get an education they can go on to be successful in all aspects of life."
"[Forced marriage] means they lose their future. They stop education. They lose their hope for living. And many of them are exposed to rape and domestic violence. This is not a life. It has to change. Girls are girls. Not wives. And it can be changed."
"Recently I spoke to a school friend who told me he was going to engineering college. The news left me feeling ashamed and pitiful. If our parents had not forced us to marry at such a young age, our lives would be so different. I would have liked to have gone to engineering school. If we were allowed to finish our educations, [my wife] and I would have learned about family planning. Maybe I would have gone to college. Forcing children to marry doesn’t just push them deeper into poverty and threaten their health. It crushes their ambitions—whether they are girls or boys."
"One of the reasons my parents couldn’t force me into getting married was that I knew my religion. And in [Islam], it explicitly says that any marriage that is forced is null and void. And there have been cases in our tradition in which a girl has been married without her consent. And she went to the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and asked him, ‘My parents forced me into marriage. Am I a married woman?’ And he said that marriage was not accepted."
Inspired by South Asian traditions that naturally nourish skin in transparent and holistic ways, Yellow Beauty seeks to solve complicated problems with ingredients you can feel good about, while helping girls be girls. Yellow Beauty donates 10% of profits to Plan International Canada projects that work to help end child marriage.
]]>"If I hadn’t got married, maybe I would have become a nurse. But since I got married and left school, I couldn’t follow my dream."
"I wasn’t sure in the beginning if I wanted this. In the end it wasn’t my decision; everyone convinced me. The family decided this was best."
"When I was studying in the 9th class, I suddenly got a message that my wedding has been fixed for August 15, 2012. I felt like my dreams had been shattered. My father is very poor. That's why he felt if I got married early, then I will ease the way for my four younger sisters."
Inspired by South Asian traditions that naturally nourish skin in transparent and holistic ways, Yellow Beauty seeks to solve complicated problems with ingredients you can feel good about, while helping girls be girls. Yellow Beauty donates 10% of profits to Plan International Canada projects that work to help end child marriage.
In each Stories Issue, we collect stories from women around the world. These stories are authentic, raw, and unapologetic. They are emotional. They are stories not often told. We hope their stories of strength will spark necessary conversations about child marriage and, most importantly, change these practices for the betterment of women everywhere.
12 year old Suria started going to a DFID funded safe space last year and is part of the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme - an empowerment programme that involves weekly girls group meetings with training on health, life skills and financial education, a voucher for health services, and a girl-friendly savings account.
Yalemwork was married when she was just 3 years old but has since become a key advocate for ending child marriage in her community. The UK funded Finote Hiwot programme runs community discussions about early marriage in her village which has resulted in many girls like Yalemwork escaping child marriage.
Taketu was married at 14, which is the average age for marriage where she lives in Ethiopia. She didn’t know the man she was forced to marry until the wedding day. Girl Hub are working in the region with policy makers, donors and partners in the private sector to ensure that girls like Taketu are at the heart of the development agenda in Ethiopia.
Education is one of the strongest factors in whether a girl will be forced into early marriage or not. Thanks to grants made available to targeted households, girls like Bayush and her friends have been able to stay in school and avoid child marriage.
Phillimon is the village headman in Chamuka, Zambia and works with paralegals, traditional chiefs and the Community Crime Prevention Unit to take action on preventing early marriages from taking place in the community.
For the full story, read Child Marriage: 6 beautiful stories of hope by Caroline Dollman
Inspired by South Asian traditions that naturally nourish skin in transparent and holistic ways, Yellow Beauty seeks to solve complicated problems with ingredients you can feel good about, while helping girls be girls. Yellow Beauty donates 10% of profits to Plan International Canada projects that work to help end child marriage.
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