At long last, and from September, 2008 up to this day, our Task Force has been working on this event. "A Dialogue on Early Marriage"brought together, Sunita Rathore from the Veerni Project, Jodhpur, India; Maria Hinojosa, Senior Corrrespondent, NOW on PBS; Connie Secaira, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Guatemala, and Caroline Walsh, UNICEF Gender Equality-Child Protection project manager. The event opened with a ten minute clip of the DVD "Child Brides-Stolen Lives" which featured three countries, India, Niger and Guatemala where children as young as ten years of age were forced into marriage. Each of the speakers spoke in turn. Ms. Sunita, in her project, shelters, and protects youth who are victims of forced marriages. Ms. Hinojosa, who did research in the three countries, related the trauma experienced by the children in the film; Ms. Secaira, highlighted some of the legislation now being enforced against child marriage in her country, and Ms. Walsh spoke of the primary goals of UNICEF which continue to be protection, education, and the well-being of children throughout their life cycle.
The consequences of early marriage compromise a child's human rights, health, education, and economic future, and for these reasons, must be fought against on all fronts.
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