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Outlook: The US Child Who Was Married Aged 11

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Sherry Johnson

24/10/2017 GMT

The US Child Who Was Married Aged 11

BBC World Service - Outlook, The US Child Who Was Married Aged 11

Sherry Johnson was married to her rapist in the US state of Florida

Sherry Johnson is trying to change the law that allowed her to be made to marry her rapist in Florida, when she was just 11.

In 25 states across the USA, a child of any age can be married with their parents' consent. Between the years 2000 and 2015, more than 200,000 children were married there. One of the states with no age limit is Florida, and Sherry Johnson grew up there. She's 58 now and she told Jo Fidgen what happened to her as a child. In a distressing account, she describes having her first child when she was only 10 and marrying the man who raped her, when she was 11. She's now campaigning against child marriage.

Origami is the art of folding paper to make interesting sculptures, but Japanese dancer and circus performer Satchie Noro and French designer Silvain Ohl are now giving the origami treatment to an eight-tonne steel shipping container as part of their dance show called "Origami". For Outlook, Dany Mitzman went to meet them at a recent performance in the Italian town of Bassano del Grappa.

Henry Orenstein is an entrepreneur in the US who not only brought the highly successful Transformers toys to the market, but also revolutionised television poker to make it the billion dollar industry it is today. He's 94 years old now, and lives in New York, but his early life was very difficult.  

For the last six years, Paula Miranda has had to use a wheelchair, after a car accident left her unable to walk. She had to give up her dream of being a sports teacher, but it hasn't held her back and this year she decided to take part in an international beauty contest, representing her homeland - Chile. 

(Picture Sherry Johnson. Courtesy of Sherry Johnson.)

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