She loses the right to go to school, the right to decide if and when she'd like to start a family, the right to make decisions about her health, the right to determine her own future.









And the world loses as well. Research shows that early marriage promotes domestic violence and gender inequities, leads to higher maternal and child mortality rates, contributes to the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and truncates girls' educations, causing generation upon generation of economic hardship. In fact, child marriage is a prime obstacle to global efforts to promote gender equality and universal education while eradicating poverty, hunger, disease and violence.