ALEMTSAHYE Gebrekidan
was 10 when her childhood came to an abrupt end. 'I was playing
outside and my mum called me inside to the house,' she remembers of
the day her world changed forever.
'She
said "you're going to marry". I was surprised and I cried
but I didn't say anything to them [her parents].' Her wedding, to a
boy of 16, took place just two months later.
Shocking
though it might seem, her experience is by no means unique. According
to World Health Organisation figures, 14.2 million girls under the
age of 15 are forced into marriage each year.
Most
come from India, the Middle East, and like Alemtsahye herself, from
sub-Saharan Africa - Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic and
Ethiopia among them.
The
consequences are appalling.
