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John,

International Day of the Girl Child is this Saturday. It’s a moment to reflect on what Equality Now and our partners around the world, including you, are doing to ensure that every girl can enjoy a safe childhood and reach her full potential.

Unfortunately, every year approximately 12 million girls are married as children around the world, including:
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where it will take more than 200 years to eliminate child marriage unless we accelerate progress.
In the United States, where gaps in the law mean children can still be legally married in 34 states.
In South Asia, where nearly half of the world’s child brides live.
In East and Southern Africa, where poverty, conflict, and deeply embedded gender norms fuel child marriage.
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Child marriage is recognised globally as a form of gender-based violence and a violation of girls’ human rights. Child marriage strips children of their bodily autonomy and freedom, and legitimises statutory rape and child sexual abuse. Girls who marry before age 18 face heightened risks of physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse. Many will experience early and unplanned pregnancies, have poor mental and physical health outcomes, and fail to complete their education.

Yet 48% of countries around the world have yet to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 without exception; and in countries like the United States, our new report on legal loopholes identifies laws that enable or encourage child marriage to persist.
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We know that progress is possible. Already this year, Equality Now and our partners have helped reform child marriage laws in Bolivia and the US states of Maine, Oregon, Missouri, and Washington, DC. And last year, we worked with our partners to ban child marriage in Sierra Leone, Colombia, and in the US states of New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington. Collectively, these efforts will protect over 2 million girls and adolescents.

Even more is possible with your support. Will you join Equality Now with a gift or by hosting a fundraiser this week in honour of International Day of the Girl Child? Together, we can end child marriage and create a better, safer world where girls have the rights, opportunities, and protections they need to thrive, succeed, and lead.

In solidarity,
S. Mona Sinha
Global Executive Director

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