‘A race against time’: the new law putting Somalia’s children at risk of marriage

‘A race against time’: the new law putting Somalia’s children at risk of marriage

Fardowsa Salat Mohamed was 15 when her cousin asked her parents for her hand in marriage. Her father did not hesitate to say yes. When Mohamed objected, her father asked her to choose between "a curse and a blessing“.

"That was not a choice for me, I was basically forced,“ she says. "No girl would ever choose to be cursed by her parents so I had to accept the marriage,“

Mohamed, who is from the town of Baidoa in south-central Somalia, wasat school, dreaming of becoming a doctor. She had to drop everything and become a wife. Three years later, Mohamed was divorced with two children. She is now back living at her parents' house.

According to the latest government figures, 34% of Somali girls are married before they reach 18, and 16%