Stephanie Sinclair, human rights photographer, interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on child brides

In a recent interview with Christiane Amanpour for CNN, award-winning photographer Stephanie Sinclair explains the stories of the child brides that feature in many of her photos.

Stephanie Sinclair has captured some of the most sensitive and eye opening images of child brides. In this interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Stephanie Sinclair explains the story behind the photographs, allowing us a glimpse into the lives of child brides. Click here to watch the full interview.

Selected Quotes

“They were decorating my hands, but I didn’t know they were going to marry me off, and my mother came and said come on my daughter. They were dressing me up and I was asking, ‘where are you taking me?’” Tehani, 8, Yemen

“Most of the young girls, particularly these two girls who are pre-teen, that’s when you really see that they don’t know what’s happening to them. And the only time they really understand what is happening is on their wedding night, unfortunately.” Stephanie Sinclair, photographer

“I’ve been working on it for about 9 years now, and this whole project was done with the help of the people from these communities. So, all the access I got to each of the families was through the people who wanted it to stop because they could see the harmful repercussions.” Stephanie Sinclair

It’s a harmful traditional practice that is slowly changing we just want to see it change even faster.

Stephanie Sinclair

“I was very straightforward, I went to [the families] and I told them what I had been working on. I showed them pictures that I made previously on the topic and I was just very honest with them. We’re working together hopefully to bring solutions and to help their communities prosper. At the same time we also have serious issues in [the US]. I made sure to point that out. For them, we have kids who get pregnant at 13 and aren’t married and they think that’s worse because there is no one to protect them.” Stephanie Sinclair

“This is Nujood Ali and she was married when she was 10 years old. And this is just a shocking story, because she went a couple months after she was married, she went to the court and found a lawyer, a woman named Shada Nasser, and asked her to help her get a divorce and she was granted…it’s definitely rare, and Nujood because an international symbol of child marriage because she was able to do this, and found it within herself and I think she has inspired a lot of girls and also a lot of organisations to support these girls to have a stronger voice.” Stephanie Sinclair

“This is Malalai Kakar, she was a very special woman. She knew the project I was working on and called me when she got this case, I was actually in Kandahar here, and this young girl her name was Jamila, and she had been stabbed several times by her husband, just for trying to go visit her mother without his permission.” Stephanie Sinclair

"I want to point out that child marriage is an issue in more than 50 countries around the world, and even in our own country we have had issues of it as well and still do, and so nobody is really exempt from it. It’s a harmful traditional practice that is slowly changing we just want to see it change even faster." Stephanie Sinclair

Want to hear more? Listen to Stephanie Sinclair's interview with ABC Radio Australia on her work to photograph the issue of child marriage: Photojournalist captures plight of child brides