‘Girls my age should not be married’: Child bride married at age 11 speaks out for World Refugee Day

She wants other parents to rethink marrying off their young daughters.

Benesh is a child bride who was married at the age of 11 in Afghanistan. Unfortunately she is not alone in becoming a wife while still a child. Over one third of girls in the developing world are married before their 18th birthday. Benesh was 11 when she found out that her father had sold her for $3,000, but she didn’t know what it meant to be married.

"I thought I was going to a fun picnic. That’s when I was told, ‘you are married now, and this is your husband. You won’t be seeing your family anymore’. "I was terrified and filled with anguish. I kept crying and crying. Other children in my new family kept trying to play games with me to try to distract me and, I think, to try to make me feel more comfortable."

Now 14-years-old, Benesh is pregnant with her second child and being cared for at a World Vision mobile health unit, while also learning about contraception and the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. [caption id="attachment_378074" align="aligncenter" width="662"] Benesh age 14[/caption] “If I saw my family again today, I would tell them that they shouldn’t have married me off," she says. "Girls my age should not be married. We should we encouraged to stay in school and get a good education. I am illiterate. "I often see other girls my age still going to school, but I can only watch, I wish I could go to school too. I miss my friends. I miss learning new things, doing maths, becoming better at different subjects, and playing at the lunchbreak. "Now, that part of my life is over. I don’t want this life for my children. It’s not fair." Benesh hasn’t had any contact with her family for three years. If Benesh gives birth to a girl, she wants her daughter to be educated and have a chance for a better life than she has. World Refugee Day takes place on June 20. To mark the day, World Vision Ireland is highlighting the growing number of child marriages across the world. In Afghanistan, child marriage is a widely accepted cultural tradition, with over a third of girls in the developing world being married before their 18th birthday. You can find out more about World Vision Ireland's work, or make a donation, here.