Jobless and engulfed in debt, Afghan brick kiln worker Fazal said the country’s imploding economy had left him with a stark choice – marry off his young daughters, or risk the family starving to death.
Last month, he received a $3,000 dowry payment after handing over his 13- and 15-year-old daughters to men more than twice their age. If the money runs out, he may have to marry off his seven-year-old, he said.
“I had no other way to feed my family and pay off my debt. What else could I have done?” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from the Afghan capital, Kabul. “I desperately hope I won’t have to marry off my youngest daughter.”
Child marriage has increased in tandem with soaring poverty since the Taliban seized power 100 days ago on Aug. 15, with reports of destitute parents even promising baby girls for future marriage in exchange for dowries, women’s rights activists said.
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