The Congress of Deputies voted unanimously yesterday a request that in 2014 the UN enact a resolution to end forced child marriage.
Every three seconds a girl under 15 is forced to marry in the world. In some cases, girls up to 5 years old. They are girls sold by their parents and given to men who mistreat them, condemned to a tremendous destiny.
Forced early marriage, along with gender-based violence, is the main barrier for girls to access education. When they get married, they leave training and end up marginalized and discriminated against, with no possibility of change.
In turn, uneducated girls are three times more likely to get forced marriage before the age of 18 than those with secondary or higher education.
Therefore, although much remains to be done, we are glad to hear that the Congress of Deputies has joined the request of more than one million people worldwide and have raised their hand to eradicate the scourge of forced child marriage.
International Plan, an organization for the protection of children's rights, also asked the deputies to develop cooperation policies to ensure 9 years of free education so that those from all over the world complete primary school and at least three years of high school.
