More than 50 million girls under the age of 17 in developing countries are married; millions more are at risk of being forced into child marriages. The practice is life in Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas.
Faiz Mohammed, 40, and Ghulam Haider, 11, sit in her family's home prior to their wedding in the rural village of Damarda, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2005. Ghulam said she is sad to be getting engaged as she wanted to be a teacher.
Said Mohammed, 55, and Roshan Kasem, 8, on the day of their engagement in the village of Chavosh on Sept. 10, 2005. The father of the bride, Abdul Kasem, 60, said he is unhappy giving his daughter away at such a young age, but has no choice due to severe poverty.
Forced marriage is culturally acceptable in Afghanistan, where marriages can be used to pay debts or create social alliances between families. Daughters are often seen as an economic burden in this poverty-stricken country.
Policewoman Malalai Kakar arrests Janan, 35, after he tried to kill his 15-year-old wife Jamila in Kandahar on June 4, 2006. Jamila had fled to stay with her mother after enduring years of abuse from her husband and mother-in-law. Janan pursued his wife with the intention of killing her, but ended up stabbing Jamila's grandmother multiple times when she tried to protect her granddaughter. Jamila was engaged when she was only 1 year old; she was married at age 10. Kakar, the policewoman, was shot dead in 2008.
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