Too young for marriage

It takes a brave woman to go against the grain - especially to fight customs which have been practiced throughout Africa for centuries.

Bintasy was forced into marriage by her parents when she was just 13 years old.  She had her first child at just 16 and today she is campaigning to prevent forced marriages.  She hopes by doing so, her daughters will have a better life and the choice of when and who they marry - and after they have gained an education.

This is important to Bintasy because she never had the opportunity to get an education.

The consequences of children being forced into marriage can be grave…

Health risks and other problems

One of the saddest consequences of young girls forced into marriage, normally with much older men, is they are still children themselves when they become pregnant.

Young girls' bodies are not ready to go through labour, when often they endure long and painful births without anaesthetic or a trained midwife.  This can result in an obstetric fistula (a hole in the birth canal), which leaves women permanently incontinent and ostracised from their communities.

Many young girls suffer a worse fate.  With the lack of medically trained assistance and the immense pressure on their young bodies, maternal deaths are common.

History repeated

Bintasy is feeling the pressure from others in the village; they want her to force her 15 year-old daughter to get married.  She is adamant that this cannot happen.

Bintasy wants her daughter to become independent first, so she has a skill.  She wants her daughter, Aissatou, to be able to take care of herself and marry for love. She will not allow her daughter to be married until she is ready, despite opposition.

Bintasy may seem timid, as she speaks softly to the camera, but she has a fighting spirit and is a pioneer for African women who have lived in the shadows too long.