The Hidden Cost of Child Marriage: Girls Share How It Stole Their Childhoods
A seventeen-year-old from Bangladesh grew up dreaming of supporting her family. As the only child of parents struggling to survive, she often wondered, “I have no brother, who will look after my parents?” Determined to be that support, she devoted herself to her studies.
But at just 14, her dreams were put on hold when a powerful family in her community proposed marriage. “I didn’t understand how to get married…I liked to study. I studied all the time,” she recalls.
She became one of the 38 million girls in Bangladesh, and 650 million worldwide, who were married before turning 18. Her story is among more than 250 shared in the 2025 State of the World’s Girls Report by Plan International, exposing the deep and lasting impact of child marriage.
Across 15 countries studied, the report shows that millions of girls are forced into marriages or informal unions, often with older partners, leaving them vulnerable to violence, poverty, and the loss of education and independence.
Many become mothers before they are ready, and too often, their voices and choices are silenced.
Child marriage is a violation of children’s rights. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), every child has the right to be protected from all forms of sexual abuse, exploitation, and harmful practices, including child marriage.
