Afghan families sell daughters into marriage amid drought crisis

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 14:58 · Archive

Severe droughts are forcing Afghan families to engage and marry off young daughters to repay debts and secure food.

Severe droughts are forcing Afghan families to sell their daughters into marriage to repay debts, pay for food and medical treatment. Girls as young as two, five, eight, ten and 14 have been engaged or married as a result. The Guardian spoke to 11-year-old Khatira, who was sold into marriage to repay debts in Qala-e-Naw, capital of Badghis province in north-west Afghanistan. Her mother says Khatira was healthy before her engagement but now worries constantly and cries frequently. When her 20-year-old husband-to-be visits, Khatira runs away and has stopped going outside because she is ashamed.

In Badghis province, 95 per cent of the population relies on rain-fed agriculture and livestock to survive. Droughts made more frequent and extreme by climate breakdown have destroyed farming incomes. Gul Bobo, a mother in the village of Tayz Nāwah, has engaged her daughters aged two and five to marry. She said: 'As a mother, I cried a lot, but I knew my husband had no choice.' She admitted she expects her daughters to face violence and pregnancy by age 14, but said: 'there is nothing I can do about it.' The five-year-old's groom is 15 and she will likely move to live with him in the next two or three years.

How it is being reported

• 'I expect them to be beaten… at 14, they will be pregnant': Afghan parents sell off their daughters, two and five, for marriage because they 'had no choice'An Afghan couple have tried to justify marrying off their daughters, two and five, for money by claiming they had 'no choice'. (File image of a woman and her baby at a pro-Taliban rally in Afghanistan)Daily Mail · 15 Oct, 14:40
• ‘I am still a child, it cannot be good to be married’: how drought forces Afghan families to sell girls as bridesAs climate breakdown pushes families to starvation, many feel forced to ‘sacrifice’ daughters to save siblings. Photographer Elise Blanchard travelled the country speaking to girls as young as eight, 10 and 14 who have been engaged or married to repay debts or pay for food ‘I’m not happy about this,” says 11-year-old Khatira, who was sold into marriage to repay debts, sitting in her home in Qala-e-Naw, capital of Badghis province in north-west Afghanistan. “She was healthy before her engagement, now she is worried and cries a lot,” says her 40-year-old mother, Noor Bibi. When her 20-year-old…The Guardian · 15 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Khatira · Gul Bobo · Badghis · Afghanistan · Qala-e-Naw · Tayz Nāwah

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