In Pakistan, the custom of marrying off young girls has increased due to dire circumstances brought on by devastating flooding.
Pakistan’s Khan Mohammad Mallah, Sindh When her parents entered the room, Asifa* was seated on the cold clay floor of her family’s house. Nestled in the southeastern Sindh province of Pakistan, the small community of 250 households was bathed in a warm glow as the sun started to set, illuminating the surrounding dry countryside. Asifa can still clearly recall the scent of the wind-blown dried grass.
Even though it was difficult to read her mother’s face, Asifa could tell that today was different. After exchanging quick glances, her parents turned to face her. Her father informed her, “Your marriage has been arranged.”
Asifa was only thirteen.
She didn’t understand the situation completely at first. Her thoughts turned to sparkling jewellery, new outfits, and the festivities she had heard about from the village’s older females. New clothes, makeup, and presents were all part of a wedding.
Asifa recalls, “I thought it would be a big celebration,” in a heavy voice, while sitting on a colourful charpai and a woven daybed outside her husband’s house and gazing out over the cracked ground of the village where she was raised. Her dark hair frames her youthful face, which is encased in a faded pink dupatta. She is fifteen years old and has a kid, a few months old, that she cradles in her arms.
Behind her is her mud and straw home, with a thatched roof worn from years of severe winds, rain, and sun.
