Drought and debt push Afghan families into arranging marriages for young daughters
Two Afghan families have described arranging marriages for very young daughters to raise money amid poverty and repeated droughts. Their accounts show how pressure to repay debts and feed families can lead to child marriage, with girls facing serious health and safety risks.
In Badghis province, where 95 per cent of people rely on rain-fed farming and livestock, water shortages have damaged crops and left animals without food since 2021. One mother said her five-year-old daughter’s 15-year-old fiancé may take her to live with him within two or three years; another family sold an 11-year-old daughter to an older shopkeeper to settle a debt. The article says Afghanistan receives less than 70 per cent of the aid it received the previous year, while health clinics are also disappearing as aid is cut.
- Drought and debt are pushing families towards child marriage.
- Girls face risks to their health and safety.
- Afghanistan’s aid cuts are deepening hardship.
New here? Start with this
Afghanistan has faced repeated droughts, damaging harvests and leaving livestock without enough food. In Badghis province, many households depend on rain-fed farming and animals, so water shortages can mean lost income as well as less food.
When families cannot meet basic needs or repay debts, some arrange marriages for young daughters or accept money linked to a marriage. Poverty and financial pressure are part of the context, but early marriage can put girls’ health and safety at serious risk.
Aid organisations provide food and healthcare, including services through local clinics. Reduced aid and the loss of clinics can leave families with fewer ways to cope, while girls who marry very young may have less access to care and support.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “‘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’”.