The Perils of Child Marriage & the Promise of Freedom

BELGRADE, Serbia / LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan / ESK??EH?R, Turkey, Feb 15 (IPS) – How much is a girl worth? If you are Maja, the answer is a chicken, a six-pack of beer and 100 euros.

That is how much her family, living in a Roma settlement in Serbia, received in exchange for her hand “in marriage.” She was 11 years old at the time. “They benefited maybe a month from it, and I was left with a problem for my whole life,” Maja, now 18, said.

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