Our partners Arab Women Organization have launched an awareness campaign against child marriage in Jordan.
Equality Now and our partners, such as Arab Women Organization in Jordan (AWO), focus on using the law to create change and build a more equal world. But when the law does not go far enough, we look at why that is. Often, it’s because more people – society as a whole – need to change their mindset. In Jordan, the child marriage law was amended recently to raise the minimum age of marriage. However, an exception was added that allows the judge to decide if an adolescent girl between ages 16 and 18 can get married.
AWO realized that although working with elected officials to change the law had made a difference, the reason the change didn’t go far enough and raise the legal age of marriage to 18 with no exceptions, was because too many people in Jordan were opposed to such reform. That’s why they’ve launched an awareness campaign to fight the exception clause by changing the dominant mentality related to child marriage.
The campaign focuses on the physical and emotional harm that child brides are subjected to when they marry off at such a young age. This animated video is a major part of this awareness campaign, showing the emotional state of child brides, and examining their relationship with their parents. It is an emotional story about child marriage told from the perspective of the child bride.
Please help us spread the word about this campaign by sharing the video with your friends and family, especially those you may know in Jordan. It will take all of us to change people’s hearts and minds, but when we do, it will make a world of difference to girls like the one in this story.