How Child Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation Continue to Shape the Lives of Gambian Girls

Why Is It So Hard to Ban Child Marriage?

After authorities found 16 children confined to a single room in Vinton County, Ohio, it emerged that their mother had been married at 15. Sarah Jones examines the case and explains why child marriage is more common than most Americans realize.

How Child Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation Continue to Shape the Lives of Gambian Girls

By Nelson Manneh The school uniform was replaced with a wedding dress before she had finished her childhood. At 16, while she was still attending junior secondary school, the teenager from Jarra Soma was married. Years earlier, when she was only three years old, she had undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a practice carried out on her because it was considered a family tradition. Today, at 17, she said those two experiences continue to sh…