So here I am in Nusa Dua, Indonesia after the opening session of the 4th International Conference on Family Planning. I'm still spinning from UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin's opening remarks: he spoke of the family planning needs of married girls. This remark is monumental. Married girls are among the most marginalized and invisible groups of human beings. Child marriage negatively impacts every aspect of a girl's life, and when …
child brides
The child behind the bride
In a grassy field splattered with patches of tiny lilacs in Ethiopia, I sat next to a twelve year old girl. She watched me out of the corner of her eye, just as I watched her out of the corner of mine. She was making a bracelet out of lilacs and, when she finished weaving the stems together, she slipped it over my wrist. Her face lit up with a smile when I told her that the bracelet, like her, was beautiful. For a moment, I saw the child behind …