Newlyweds. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair

Photo contest winners of the annual UN Children's Fund. He was 40, she 11. Newlyweds - Ghulam Muhammad F. and H. "We needed the money", Ghulam's parents are explained. Husband promises to send the girl to learn, but the women of the village Damarda know that in fact the local uneducated men prefer women.

During his stay in Afghanistan, photographer Stephanie Sinclair (Stephanie Sinclair) was struck by how many young girls have a relatively older men. Photographer decided to draw public attention to this case, the more that 16 years of marriage in Afghanistan is illegal.

According to UNICEF half of Afghan women are married before reaching 18 years. Child marriages are common not only in that State.

About 60 million women, whose age today is not more than 20-24 years, all over the world are married before reaching the age of majority. A huge number of child marriages occur in African countries and South Asia. In Niger, 77 per cent of girls (in South Asia to 21, 3 million women) were engaged to be married before reaching the age of majority.

In the Indian city of Rajasthan 15 percent of married women during the wedding was barely 10 years old.

Children weddings are usually a consequence of extreme poverty in the southern countries, where needy families regard daughters as a burden and people Ktorov class. Already in young age these girls fall under the guardianship of their older men, who in most cases are exploiting them. Many girls are victims of domestic violence. A survey conducted among young wives in Egypt shows that a third of them suffer from beating their husbands. The bride in the marriage as soon as possible are required to prove their maturity. The risk that a girl 10-14 years did not survive pregnancy is five times higher than that of an adult woman. Every year from complications during pregnancy die before 150,000 teenagers. The situation is complicated by the fact that in these areas there is absolutely no medical care.

Stephanie intends to further investigate the child marriages in the southern countries to publish their research in the book.

A source