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The Conversation

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Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

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The Conversation: Ending Child Marriage

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(L) Dr Trevicia Williams (credit: Trevicia Williams) and (R ) Memory Banda (credit: Bensam)

Ending Child Marriage

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Ending Child Marriage

Two women campaigning to end child marriage in the US and in Malawi

A leader for girls' rights in Malawi and a child bride survivor from the US discuss how to end child marriage in a generation.

Is it possible to end child marriage in a generation? Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women working to make it a thing of the past in Malawi and in the United States.

Memory Banda's sister was just 11 when she was forced to marry the man who'd made her pregnant. Determined not to have the same fate, Memory persuaded local leaders in Malawi to change their minds about this cultural practise and then - still a teenager - she successfully campaigned for the government to raise the marriage age to 18 across the country in 2015. Memory says that she faced a big backlash but she felt she had to speak out when she saw how traumatic the practice was for girls in her community. 

Trevicia Williams came out of school one day and was told by her mother that she was going to be married. Trevicia was 14. Her prospective husband - whom she hardly knew - was 26. It took her three years to escape the marriage. Trevicia says education was her key to surviving the experience. Now a doctor of psychology, she empowers individuals and families to build strong healthy relationships and prevent social issues like child marriage. Trevicia's testimony was key to her state of Texas changing the law to outlaw marriage under the age of 18, in 2017.

(L) Dr Trevicia Williams (credit: Trevicia Williams) 
(R ) Memory Banda (credit: Bensam)

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