Child Marriage Around the World: Bangladesh — Mala

Defying her parents, Mala Akter married Rony, the boy she loved, when she was 12. After two years of his verbal and physical abuse, a baby and the daily struggle to put food on the table, she thinks “getting married was a bad idea.” Mala dreams of a future where she can make something of herself because “my child is young. I want to bring him up properly. I don’t want anybody else to make the same mistakes I did.”

Voice of America reporters around the world focused on the worth of a girl to reveal how a young bride is valued by two families: the one she leaves behind and the one she joins. Explore the full project https://projects.voanews.com/child-marriage/