As I used to live in and travel through regions where child marriage is still happening, it really touched me on very deep level. Therefore I would like to show with these photos to the parents how their daughters can end up if they marry them at very young age for economic reasons or for traditional, cultural and religious beliefs.. It is in their hands to choose their children's future.
As website of the Girls Not Brides says: "Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is 23 girls every minute. Nearly 1 every 2 seconds."
Those numbers are pretty scary (and they are mentioning girls only - it is important to mention child marriage is happening to boys, too, although not as often as to girls).
Forced child marriage very often ends up in domestic servitude and sexual slavery. Girls have no choice but to perform domestic chores, farm work or sexual intercourse with their husbands. If they refuse to do so, or if their performance is unsatisfactory, they face physical, psychological and sexual abuse.
Victims of servile marriage are often unable to escape because their families and/or the societies in which they live will not support them.
If this message will get to at least parent who will then reconsider the future of their daughter, then it wasn't wasted time.
(The texts used in the photos are parts of the United Nation's Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of
slavery, including its causes and consequences,
Gulnara Shahinian - Thematic report on servile marriage.)
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is 23 girls every minute. Nearly 1 every 2 seconds.
Forced child marriage very often ends up in domestic servitude and sexual slavery.
Girls have no choice but to perform domestic chores, farm work or sexual intercourse with their husbands.
If this message will get to at least parent who will then reconsider the future of their daughter, then it wasn't wasted time.
