Against Forced Marriage
By: Aesean Pitt & Kevin Festus
What you probably don't know
Forced Marriage- A type of tradition that's practiced in foreign countries and sometimes the U.S. that involves an adult or even a child to be forced into a marriage with a total stranger.
It's said that around 14 million girls thats under the age of 18 marry each year. One in every five girls in the developing world is married by the age of 18. One in nine marries before they reach the age of 15. Countries with the highest rates of early and forced marriage in Europe include Georgia (17%), Turkey (14%) and Ukraine (10%). At least 10% of adolescents marry before the age of 18 in Britain and France.
Child Marriage around the world
- One third of the world’s girls are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15.
- In 2010, 67 million women 20-24 around the world had been married before the age of 18.
- If present trends continue, 142 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday over the next decade. That’s an average of 14.2 million girls each year.
- While countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage are concentrated in Western and Sub-Saharan Africa, due to population size, the largest number of child brides reside in South Asia.
Poverty and Child Marriage
- Girls living in poor households are almost twice as likely to marry before 18 than girls in higher income households.
- More than half of the girls in Bangladesh, Mali, Mozambique and Niger are married before age 18. In these same countries, more than 75 percent of people live on less than $2 a day.
Save Your Rights
- Educate yourself about forced marriage
- Go to organizations that helps people who are forced into marriage
- Take the vow petition
- Donate money to ICRW (International Center for Research on Woman) and other special organizations.
Forced Marriages - Sara's Story