End early marriage - Let's build a world where girls have the power to choose

1 in 3 of the world’s child brides live in India. Can you believe it? I refuse to grow up in a world which is unjust, where girls my age are forced into an early marriage.

I am Amaya Agarwal, 13 years old and a proud member of Team Change at Breakthrough, a community of changemakers committed to making violence against women and girls unacceptable. I am determined to build a world where girls are free to choose whether they want to study further or work and not be forced into an unwanted marriage.

I realised I take my freedom for granted. I have the freedom to make my own choices and they are received with love and support. In our country, millions of young girls don’t have that and I want to do my bit to change that by supporting Breakthrough’s work.

More about Breakthrough, the NGO I am supporting:

Breakthrough is a 20 year old organisation which has been endlessly working to end early marriage by changing the culture that perpetuates this practice. Currently, Breakthrough is reaching over 420,000 adolescent boys and girls across 5 states of India with a school and community based programme that is proven by MIT’s Poverty Action Lab to bring significant shifts in the gender attitudes and behaviours of boys and girls. Breakthrough’s work with communities in Bihar and Jharkhand has also been instrumental in increasing girls’ age at marriage by 1.84 years.