en million girls a year are married before the age of 18 across the world. Child marriages are illegal in India and punishable with a large fine and two years in prison for anyone performing, conducting or failing to prevent a child marriage. The grandfather of a 6-year-old child bride said, ‘I hate the government for trying to stop us. This is the way we've always done things. The government bans this but we don't care and we do these weddings anyway.’ There are at least 50 million married child couples around the world and this will double by the end of the decade. The countries with the highest proportion of child brides are Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh and India. 14 million aged between 15 and 19 give birth each year and are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as women in their 20s.

Pray: against this practice that robs millions of girls of their childhood, their education, their rights and their dignity. Pray for the laws banning child marriage to be properly enforced and for protection of young vulnerable girls. (Ps.33:10-11)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15082550