Girls' rights are human rights
Girls have the same human rights as everyone else. They also need special protection, because they are children and because they face particular risks. This article sets out the rights every girl holds and explains why child marriage violates them.
The rights every girl holds
- The right to life, health and safety.
- The right to an education.
- The right to protection from violence and abuse.
- The right to rest, to play and to a childhood.
- The right, as an adult, to choose whether and whom to marry.
How child marriage breaks these rights
Child marriage takes many of these rights away at once.
In 2013, reports of an eight-year-old girl in Yemen who died of internal bleeding on the night she was married to a 40-year-old man shocked the world. Her death showed what is at stake.
Rights need protection
Rights mean little unless families, communities and governments protect them. Laws, schools, health services and awareness all play a part.
Nada Foundation works for a world where every girl's rights are respected, and where women are recognised as equal partners in life.