Below are short introductions of the trauma that five girls endured because of being forced into child marriage. They are fictional stories, based on what young girls continue to experience around the world.
My name is Samia and I am from Niger. My father decided that I should get married. Three years ago, I was wed to a strange man in his thirties. He hit me and sexually assaulted me. When he wasn’t abusing me, my mother in law forced me to do labor for her. Two years later, I gave birth to a stillborn baby. I managed to run away and escape my living nightmare, and for that I am lucky. I am 14 years old.
I am Priya from India. When I was 16, my mom told me that I was going to get married. I tried to convince my mother not to marry me off. She told me that there was no other way; my bride price was needed to pay for the price of my brother’s bride.
I am Sadia from Bangladesh, and I am 15 years old. I didn’t meet my husband before the wedding, but people told me he was a good enough man. Knowing this didn’t make it any easier. I gave birth to my daughter through an emergency caesarean section. If I hadn’t made it to the hospital, my baby and I would have died. I do not want an arranged marriage for my daughter.
My name is Huma. I am 20 years old now. When I was 14, my parents arranged a marriage. Before the wedding my fiancé came and took me to his house. He held me there where I was raped and tortured for two months. Eventually we got married, and I had two children. My sons were the only things that kept me going through that dark time.
I am Aisha from Pakistan. My father had troubles with his second wife so he gave me away in order to settle the conflict with the second wife's family. The marriage was arranged by family - not forced - but I was a little girl at the time; I did not understand what accepting the arrangement would mean. My husband was really harsh with me because of the fact that I did not know what a marriage was, and what the duties of a wife were. My husband was 36. He wanted a sexual relationship but I did not even know what that was at the time, and so he started beating me to get it. No one could help me - everyone remained silent. I guess they thought this is a tradition - that every woman should be beaten by her husband and this is his right to get his demands, to get what he wants. I was 10 years old when I was married.