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Getting married at a young age isn’t something that most women or girls choose to do in the UK, but the fact of the matter is that we have a choice. Whereas in West Pokot, a rural area of Kenya I visited recently, a girl’s point of view doesn’t come into it.
I live in Kitale, in the eastern part of Kenya and I’ve been working for ActionAid since 2005. I was born and belong to this community, but unlike the majority of girls as I was growing up, I was lucky. Instead of being forced to have female genital mutilation (FGM) and enter into early marriage, my parents gave me an education.
“I often think of suicide”. This is the final line from a young girl whose story was sent to me this week. This girl is 16 years old and from Ghana. She was forced to undergo female genital mutilation as a small child and was told that having her genitals mutilated would make her attractive to potential husbands and ensure she was faithful to him.
Look at this photo of smiling girls. They are all nine years old. They live in Ethiopia, and thanks to an ActionAid project they are at school rather than being forced to drop out to get married.
Just over two days. That’s how long you have to make twice the difference to women and girls globally, who are faced with poverty and violence every single day. Until midnight on Wednesday 25 June the UK government will double all donations made to our She CAN appeal. Time is running out and I’m hoping that you will share our sense of urgency and dig deep.
Last year the Department for International Development (DFID) launched a £35 million programme working across 17 countries to support Africa-led movements to end female genital mutilation. This and the UK government's upcoming July event aimed at empowering girls to reject mutilation and forced early marriage are to be applauded.