A Daily Crisis Made Visible

Suddenly, I was receiving a flurry of texts and DMs from friends and family about my work.?

In the two years I’ve been leading an organization that focuses on ending child marriage, I’ve only received an occasional link or note from a friend or family member, usually spurred by them running across the stray article about the topic.??

But then, last month, a steady stream of messages began to flow in as the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan developed, and news stories lead with the heightened risk of child marriage as women and girls may be forced into unions they do not choose.?

Early reports indicate that the Taliban is beginning to limit the freedoms of women and girls, and it’s easy to imagine a bleak future for them under Taliban rule. Child marriage rates in the country are already high -- 28% of girls become brides before the age of 18 in Afghanistan, impeding their education, health, and safety.???

In their messages, my friends and family openly worry about the future of women and girls in Afghanistan. I share their worry and gently remind them that the situation in Afghanistan -- brought to the forefront by heightened media coverage -- is all too illustrative of what women and girls are facing everywhere. Child marriage is a chronic and yet largely ignored crisis impacting a staggering number of women and girls around the globe. Twelve million girls every year -- 1 in 5 of our young women globally -- will become child brides this year. More than 650 million women alive today were married as children.?

While the rate of child marriage in Afghanistan is high at 28%, there are more than 20 countries with higher rates of child marriage. In Niger -- the country with the world’s highest rate of child marriage -- a heartbreaking 76% of girls become brides before age 18. Every three seconds, another child somewhere becomes a bride, and this rate is widely expected to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic.?

Despite these staggering numbers, there is precious little awareness of and focus on this crisis that is robbing our girls of the opportunity to live lives they love.?

What’s to be done? We must give women and girls the opportunity to love on their own terms and put them in charge of their futures. We can start by vocally pushing for an end to child marriage, including outlawing the practice in the U.S.,

. As a nation, we can speak up on behalf of girls everywhere, demanding their equality, starting with calling for a global end to the practices of early and forced marriage.?

We must do better for girls in Afghanistan. And we must do better for girls globally. Our collective future depends on it.?

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Clay Dunn is the CEO of VOW for Girls, a U.S.-based nonprofit that is ending the international child marriage crisis by creating a global community to ensure every girl can live a life she loves. Learn more at VOWforGirls.org.?