Say No to Child Abuse 1

Background

Field work conducted in Mus reveals that girls are forced into early marriages and therefore only 30% of girls continue their education in high school level.

Project Goals

• In Mus:
  • 40 guidance counselors in schools will participate in a 14 week women’s human rights training program.
  • Teachers will be supported in informing girls and their parents on the disadvantages of early marriages.
  • Agents of local public organizations and NGOs will be encouraged to work together.

Project Results

• In Mus:
  • 45 guidance counselors in schools participated in the 16-week training program on women’s human rights.
  • These guidance counselors organized workshops on children’s rights and disadvantages of early marriages in 27 schools and reached 4,200 girls aged between 11 and 18.
  • Meetings on the importance of educating girls were organized in 6 schools with the participation of 280 parents and the project was introduced.
  • Representatives of 33 NGOs and 9 public bodies came together in order to collaborate against early marriages in Mus.

Testimonials

"In this program we learned a lot and we also disseminated what we have learned. Following the training, I even visited the girls who had been taken out of school to get married. The girls were either engaged or working in the fields or barns. After speaking to the families, we managed to convince some of them to send their girls back to school."

Project Beneficiary

"I was attending 9th grade. One day at school we were asked to sign up to a seminar discussing girls who are married young. All the questions in my mind were answered in the seminar. Why are men considered superior to women? Why is it that whatever they say is followed? Was the world made for men, or were we made for men? I received answers to these questions. My mother was going to marry me off, people were always coming to our house to see me. After being informed at the seminars, I spoke to my mother, and told her I didn’t want to get married. I couldn’t say this before. Now I feel great because I know my rights."