By Tinotenda Hondo | Gender Equality Specialist at Plan International
I rescued my sister’s future. Will you choose courage too?
Emmanuel from Kenya had to choose between silence or courage. He chose to stand against child marriage and help rescue his sister's future. Now, with other young leaders he hopes to stamp out the practice for good, writes Tinotenda Hondo, Gender Equality Specialist at Plan International.
When Emmanuel heard that his younger sister, Purity, was about to be married to a wealthy old tycoon in their village he immediately knew this was wrong. He knew he had to choose between silence and courage, between what is easy and what is right.
Purity had just finished primary school, was bright, hopeful and full of dreams. Their parents were under pressure from poverty and circumstances, and believed that marrying their daughter to this man with his flashy lifestyle and status would bring wealth and help the family survive.
But Emmanuel, fresh out of medical school, saw things differently. He saw a dark reality looming over his sister. He felt helpless anger and a deep conviction that his sister was not the solution to their poverty as a family. And even with no money and no connections he chose courage. With his unwavering support, she managed to go to high school and keep moving towards her dreams.
“I didn’t just pay her school fees, I rescued her future,” he says.
Emmanuel’s story reflects the kind of courage the world needs right now, because child marriage continues to disrupt the childhoods of millions of girls every year, denying them education and limiting their ability to shape their own futures.
That is why young people around the world are coming together through the #EndChildMarriage campaign for a year of action to challenge the social norms that deny girls their rights. We are standing with girls as they raise their voices and demand change from leaders.
The most powerful prevention strategy
We know that one of the most effective ways to prevent child marriage is to keep girls in school and expand their economic opportunities. When girls stay in school, they are more likely to delay marriage and gain the skills and confidence they need to determine their own futures.
Marriage does not end poverty or protect girls’ sexual and reproductive health, it merely transfers vulnerability from the family to the girl herself.
Too often child marriage decisions in families are driven by poverty, insecurity and the belief that marriage offers protection or survival in times of need. In Emmanuel’s village (and many other places) child marriage is seen as protecting family honour as well as girls sexual purity and economic future. Yet marriage does not end poverty or protect girls’ sexual and reproductive health, it merely transfers vulnerability from the family to the girl herself.
Married girls drop out of school, face early pregnancy complications, experience violence from their partners and remain economically dependent with little or no control over money in the home.
Education offers a different pathway and gives girls time to nurture bold aspirations they otherwise would not have the chance to have. Keeping girls in school does more than delay marriage, it interrupts cycles of poverty and creates positive outcomes for both girls and their families.
Courage in the face of backlash
Emmanuel’s courage changed one girl’s life but his story reflects a much bigger truth.
We are living in a moment that requires similar fortitude. Around the world funding cuts, shrinking civic space and growing backlash against girls rights are threatening decades of progress for child rights and equality for girls. Anti-rights actors are gaining influence in policy spaces, while political and religious conservatism challenges advances in gender equality.
This moment calls for us to choose courage and defend girls’ rights.
In this environment, it can be tempting to choose silence, avoid difficult conversations and issues that are considered controversial. It can seem easier to tone down our language and step back from issues that challenges power.
But ending child marriage is more urgent now, than ever before.
When funding cuts weaken services, girls are often the first to feel the impact. When families face economic pressures, girls are pulled out of school and marriage often follows. When times get hard, families are forced to adopt harmful coping strategies which increase girls vulnerability to child marriage.
This moment calls for us to choose courage and defend girls’ rights.
Defending girls’ rights and choosing courage
Through the #EndChildMarriage campaign, young people are leading the way. They are speaking out against harmful norms, organizing within their communities and demanding action from their leaders.
Plan International works alongside girls, their families and communities to strengthen this courage in over 80 countries. Boys and men, who are allies like Emmanuel, are beginning to question social expectations, reflecting on their own behaviors and becoming powerful voices for change, transforming the very norms that allow child marriage to exist.
Emmanuel’s next step in ending child marriage? Working with a group of global young influencers and Plan International to call on leaders, governments and the public to say We Object to child marriage.
The group has written a set of vows for ending child marriage and are demanding global support. This month they’ve taken their demands to the halls of power – the United Nations – for the 70th Commission on the Status of Women, and are asking governments, leaders and the public for support.
It is time to object to these harmful traditions that limit girls’ futures and put them at risk of serious harm.
Every girl who stays in school, every family that defies the norm, every leader who shows support for this cause represents courage in action.
Will you choose silence or courage? Only one will shape the future of millions of girls.
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By Plan International | Plan International
By Plan International | Plan International
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