Ten-year-old Zahra* sits inside her family’s home, nervously fidgeting with the edge of her veil. She stares at the red and tan patterned blankets covering the walls. She wonders how things have gotten this desperate — how she ended up in this situation.
In an ideal world, Zahra would be in school right now. She imagines listening to her teacher explain a math lesson while she writes equations down in her notebook. She thinks about having friends her own age to play with after school each day. She wonders what it would be like to pursue her dreams and goals for the future.
But Zahra lives in an impoverished area of Afghanistan, and her family is caught between displacement, extreme poverty, and the Taliban’s tightening control over women’s rights. For girls like her, dreams rarely come true.
Footsteps interrupt Zahra’s thoughts, and her heart begins to race. Her father has come back to collect her. She knows this will probably be the last time she will ever get to stay in her own home. As Zahra follows him out, she briefly closes her eyes and prepares herself.
It’s time to meet her new husband.
The Consequence of War
Some consequences of war aren’t obvious … but they’re just as tragic
Conflicts and wars leave a path of destruction wherever they go — crumbled buildings, piles of rubble, broken families, and incredible loss. Some of the other damage is less visible … but that doesn’t mean it’s any less devastating.
Child marriage is classified by the UN as a human rights violation. But countless families living in severe poverty because of a war feel selling their daughters into marriage is the only way to survive.
Sadly, child marriage exists all over the world, even in developed countries. For nations embroiled in conflicts like Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan, the rate of girls who are becoming child brides has increased dramatically.
The UN estimates that one in five girls under 18 is married — and that number doubles in undeveloped countries and conflict zones.
In Afghanistan, Zahra’s story is tragic, but it isn’t unique. In fact, 28 percent of Afghan girls are married before their 18th birthday. In South Sudan, where war, violence, and drought are pushing families into abject poverty, that percentage is twice as high.
An Impossible Decision
Child marriage has become an epidemic in war-torn and impoverished countries
Many displaced and refugee families are selling their young daughters into marriage because they can’t afford to feed them. Unemployment, disease, and starvation are constant companions among many displaced people and refugees. They resort to desperate measures to survive.
Zahra’s father sold her into marriage because his wife desperately needed an expensive operation, and he had to take out a loan. When he couldn’t pay it back, he gave his daughter up in exchange for a marriage dowry.
Other parents choose to marry their daughters off to protect them from violence, abuse, and rape by armed groups. They believe they’re keeping their daughters safe from an even worse fate than child marriage.
A Lifelong Sentence
Child marriage has devastating and life-altering consequences
No matter the reason for child marriage, the reality is that it destroys young girls’ lives. It keeps them from realizing their full potential and pursuing a bright future. It reinforces gender-based discrimination and makes girls even more vulnerable to violence. It takes away their right to choose.
For young displaced or refugee girls, earning an education is essential to helping break the cycle of poverty. But with obstacles like supply shortages and poverty, access to education is becoming a pipe dream for many.
These same obstacles are also pushing their families to take drastic measures to stay alive. More girls, especially in Afghanistan, are turning to marriage as the Taliban’s laws cast a darkening shadow over their dreams. Before the Taliban stripped women of their right to an education, they wanted to become doctors, teachers, or journalists. Now, they believe that without an education, marriage is their only option to survive — but young marriages come with their own set of risks.
Most times, girls are forced into child marriage against their wills
Girls who marry before age 15 are 50 percent more likely to experience abuse from their husbands and their husbands’ families. The risk of other health complications, including HIV, depression, and suicide, is much higher as well. When young girls are taken from their families and forced to grow up too fast, the consequences are catastrophic and lifelong.
Every day, child marriage takes thousands of young girls captive. When the money the family receives for their daughter runs out, the devastating cycle continues. To break this cycle and eliminate child marriage, refugees and displaced children need both help and hope.
Every child was made in the image of God and deserves to be loved and cherished. But too many refugee and displaced children have come to see themselves as a burden — just another mouth to feed.
How You Can Help
You can give girls and other refugee and displaced children a brighter future
Thankfully, God equips His people to help those in desperate need. In Isaiah 1:17, He instructs, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.”
Today, you can provide lifesaving help and hope to displaced and refugee children from places like Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other war-torn countries. You could help a child avoid being forced into a young marriage simply by providing them with what they need to survive.
Every $35 you give will provide a week’s worth of emergency food, clean water, and other critical aid for one displaced or refugee child from a high-conflict area. Your gift will be a lifeline for desperate children who are struggling to survive and facing uncertain futures.
Through your support, you’ll also be a powerful example of God’s love and provision to refugees and displaced children in need. You can show them that they aren’t alone — that they’re loved and valued.
Will you be the hands and feet of Jesus to refugee and displaced children in need? Click the button below to start transforming lives today.
*Name changed for safety