A promise to girls: It is time we came together and took concrete action to end the grave injustice of child marriage
A promise to girls: It is time we came together and took concrete action to end the grave injustice of child marriage Ela Bhatt & DESMOND TUTU Oct 11, 2012 Today is our human family's first-ever International Day of the Girl. This is a day to celebrate the fact that it is girls who will change the world; that the empowerment of girls holds the key to development and security for families, communities and societies worldwide. It also re-cognises the discrimination and violence that girls disproportionately endure - and it is especially important that one of the cruellest hardships to befall girls, child marriage, should be the UN's chosen theme for this inaugural day. The marriage of adolescent girls, sometimes to much older men, sums up much of the harm, injustice and stolen potential that afflict so many girls around the world. Ten million girls under the age of 18 are married off every year with little or no say in the matter. That's 100 million