‘No other choice’: Afghan parents sell young daughters into marriage amid starvation and poverty

Child marriage has been practised in Afghanistan for centuries, but war and worsening poverty linked to climate change are driving many families to resort to striking deals for their daughters’ hands at much earlier ages. Some farmers who have been forced from their homes admit they have had “no other choice” but to sell their daughters into marriage to settle debts. Taliban officials now ruling the country say child marriages are economic agreements between families and not related to rules imposed by the group or sharia Islamic law.