Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, Melinda French Gates collaborate on anti-child marriage op-ed

Former first lady Michelle Obama, human rights attorney Amal Cooney and philanthropist Melinda French Gates advocated for ways to end child marriage in an op-ed on Wednesday.

In their Time Magazine post, the three woman explained that about 12 million girls in the world annually face a situation where they could be forced into marriage because of a “web of economic, educational, and cultural systems” that takes away their choices and opportunities.

They argued that child marriage is one of the most notable threats to girls’ education, as child brides are more likely to leave school, face violence, struggle to make money, unintentionally get pregnant, experience a miscarriage or die during pregnancy.

“But when girls go to school, we are all better off: poverty goes down, economies grow, and babies are born healthier,” they said. “The ripple effects extend throughout countries and across the globe.”

The group wrote that they are focusing on three actions to try to reduce the number of child marriages and eventually eliminate them. First, they are working with women and girls to take legal action to secure their rights.

They cited an example of a group of girls who were able to successfully push for Malawi’s parliament to raise its legal marriage age to 18 in 2017 and other actions that have improved child marriage laws in countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe and Indonesia.

In their op-ed, the woman also shared that they are working with grassroots organizations to “change hearts and minds” in local communities about child marriage laws.

They referenced one group in Nepal specifically that teaches girls about how to advocate for their rights in their families and another in Uganda that manages a shelter for girls who have escaped from gender-based violence, have had unplanned pregnancies or fled from abusive circumstances.

Obama, Clooney and French Gates said they are also working to keep girls in school, as educating girls in one generation can delay marriage over several generations. They wrote that girls staying in school through secondary levels of education is one of the most effective ways to avoid child marriage.

“We know this is not an easy endeavor—there are many social, religious, and cultural norms that have upheld child marriage over centuries. But we also know that change is possible,” the op-ed reads.

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