By Tina Kapoor | Head of Communications
Dear Supporter,
In our endeavour to amplify the voices of change, we’re delighted to introduce you to girl leader Anjali!
A farmer's daughter, Anjali hails from a small village in Uttar Pradesh. Passionate to change the destinies of the girls in her community, Anjali joined the Girl Icon Program.
“The greatest problem in my community is girls’ education and child marriage. As soon as a girl reaches the 8th or 10th grade, her parents marry her off. Nobody wants to support their education.” says Anjali
A 9-year-old girl named Poonam in Anjali’s community had been forced by her father to marry a 35-year-old in exchange for money. Her mother opposed the marriage, but her opinion was disregarded due to the deep-rooted patriarchy in the community.
On the occasion of a festival, Poonam returned home and started attending school for a few days. When Anjali learnt about Poonam’s story she was determined to take action and save this 9-year-old girl from being a child bride.
“I saw her husband physically forcing her to get into the car and take her back, she was crying helplessly. I couldn’t stand the sight of it,” says Anjali
Anjali then reached out to ChildLine for support and the police control room to take care of the situation. With the help of the officials, Anjali saved Poonam from being taken away by her husband. Today, Poonam is no longer a child bride and has enrolled back in school in class 7th.
“I could not see such injustice happening to her. Milaan’s training has given me the confidence to speak up against injustice happening around me. I will fight for the rights of girls in my community and will not give up.”
With your support, we can continue to educate and empower girls like Anjali to create a gender-just world.
The pandemic has further pushed adolescent girls in marginalised communities down the vulnerability matrix. In India, 10 million girls in secondary education might never return back to classrooms. There has already been a 17% hike in child marriages.
In these difficult times, your contribution ensures we create a cadre of girl leaders like Anjali who become the voice for the girls in their communities in ensuring they are educated, healthy and safe!
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