India: a young bride fights back, Reena's story

Reena's story was kindly shared by our member Breakthrough. To take action, join their campaign "A Nation Against Early Marriage": www.breakthrough.tv/earlymarriage

A young girl sits amongst a sea of students in a classroom - but one thing distinguishes her from the rest - sindoor or a red powder on her forehead indicating her married status.

Reena was barely past the 9th standard when she was pressured to get married. In this extraordinary story of courage, Reena fought back to continue her education, determined to stand on her own two feet and not let what happened to her repeat with her four sisters.

Breakthrough is transforming communities across the states of Bihar and Jharkhand in India, using media, leadership trainings, and community engagement, to end early marriage.

How is Breakthrough working to end child marriage? Read Sex and Sensibility: Breaking through India's Patriarchal Bias.

In the time it has taken to read this article 9 girls under the age of 18 have been married

Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18

That is 23 girls every minute

Nearly 1 every 2 seconds

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