The devastation of child marriage effectively ends a girl’s childhood. How? Forced marriage robs a girl of her education and more, replacing lessons learned in the classroom with adult responsibilities, including forced pregnancy, well before she’s ready. This not only violates her rights, but risks her life, the lives of her children and the future of her community.

Tragically, about 40 million girls worldwide are currently married or in a union – and without our help, an estimated 150 million girls will be married in the next decade. This is unacceptable.

Read more about the issues, Save the Children’s impact – and how you can help end child marriage.

Child marriage is formal or informal union before age 18. It is a violation of children’s human rights and a form of gender-based violence that robs children of childhood. Child marriage also disrupts their education and drives vulnerability to violence, discrimination and abuse.

Read the full article about child marriage at Save the Children.