Take the Vow - Because I am a Girl

On the day the UK government is focusing on tackling domestic abuse – including forced marriage – Plan is launching the first-ever national education resource dedicated to the issue. We are providing thousands of secondary schools with a ground-breaking animated film and learning plan: ‘The Right to Say No’.

Coaxed and coerced, every year early and forced marriage directly affects 10 million girls under the age of 18. This is the equivalent of a girl becoming a child bride every three seconds. For the girl, early and forced marriage is a brutal transition from childhood to adulthood that all too often harms her education and health.

Our Campaigns Officer Naomi Williams, saw these words on a school wall poster just outside Bangladesh’s sprawling capital of Dhaka. 14 year old Fatima is proudly showing me this poster, explaining how she has worked hard towards achieving this powerful declaration.