1. Educate girls and educate them about their rights
One of the most effective antidotes to early marriages is education. The longer a girl attends school, the less likely she is to marry before age 18 and have children as a teenager. Education not only enables them to stand up for their rights and make informed decisions about their lives, it also equips girls with the knowledge and skills to find employment after school. This way they can better support their families. This can help break the cycle of poverty and prevent child marriage. Because it is often closed due to extreme poverty, because the parents of a child hope that the husband’s family will take care of their daughter, or because they hope this will give them economic advantages, such as her dowry. Creating income opportunities for the family, such as microfinance loans, are also an effective means of preventing child marriages that arise from economic hardship.
Shompa from Bangladesh, for example, was involved in the Plan youth forum and knew what consequences early marriage would have for her. She has managed to convince her parents not to marry her and she pledges to help other girls get an education and are enlightened – and are therefore protected from child marriage. Read her story here.
