child brides

the world vision report continues to rock my face off every week. this week, my favorite story concerned a young girl in india that had the spirit to tell her parents no when they tried to marry her at 12. the fact that this a story at all - a girl speaking her mind - is still quite sad, but it is such an encouraging step towards girls speaking out for themselves. as a result, her insistence has drawn much local and international attention so that her community and surrounding others have since not had any other young girls marry. in many cases parents are not being cruel but are instead simply following custom. by merely speaking out, by asking to continue her education, rehka saved herself and now so many others. sometimes that's all it takes.

wouldn't it be great if more girls spoke out for themselves against teen marriage, against going into prostitution. some young girls simply don't realize that they do have a choice, that they have the right to say no. here in thailand especially a girl will go to work in a brothel if her parents tell her because she thinks she is respecting them. there are other situations of manipulation or violence in which a girl may not have a choice, but how amazing would it be if more girls could recognize the situations in which they have the power to say no.