Adaya probably knows how to do sitauke, ushiro-geri and hiza uke, but knowing these karate moves isn’t the only reason this 16-year-old Bangladeshi girl stands out. She is also an advocate for stopping early marriage.

“I had to stop my studies due to extreme poverty,” Adaya says, explaining that her father lost his job amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During that time, Adaya learned that her own marriage was looming. “The middle of last year, my family had decided to give me in marriage and hid it from me,” she recalls. Bangladesh has the world’s fourth-highest rate of early and forced marriage at 59%.

Around the same time, Adaya learned about Plan International Canada’s Combatting Early Marriage in Bangladesh (CEMB) project. It is funded by Because I am a Girl supporters in partnership with the Government of Canada. The project strives to help teen girls like Adaya protect themselves from this type of gender-based violence.

Thankfully, the training and support Adaya received from the project helped her block her impending marriage.“I told my mother that I was still a child, according to my age.” she says. “I also informed the CEMB project staff, and they came to my house and talked to her.” Adaya’s mother changed her mind with some persuasion from the Child Marriage Prevention Committee, who helped explain how this practice holds tremendous danger and has damaging effects.

Adaya describes her involvement in the CEMB project as the “story of [her] comeback.” Today she’s back in school, making her own decisions and confidently lobbying officials to oppose early marriage. “I always wanted to learn self-defence techniques,” she says. “After learning karate through this project, I am more confident than ever.”

Later, Adaya was able to help a friend who was facing a similar situation. “We warned [her guardians] that we would inform the local law-enforcement authorities, and so they cancelled the marriage and my friend was saved,” she says.

Growing up, Cristina went to school and played with her classmates – until she had to drop out to help financially support her family. Over 60% of people in Mozambique are living below the poverty line.

One day, Faizal*, an older wealthy man from their community, offered to marry Cristina.

Cristina’s mother agreed to the marriage because she had been raised to see marriage as a way to gain stability and financial security. But then she changed her mind.

As it happened, both she and Faizal participated in discussion groups provided through the Healthy Women and Girls project, run by Plan International Canada in partnership with the Government of Canada. The project, funded by Because I am a Girl supporters, worked to improve girls’ and women’s access to health services like prenatal care and family planning. It also supported their right to choose whether and when to marry and have children.

During the 10-week program, the adult group explored the importance of gender equality; sexual, reproductive and maternal health; and – critically – the harmful outcomes for young girls forced into marriage. Cristina’s mother and Faizal agreed to cancel the marriage once they both realized what was at stake for Cristina.

Today, Faizal continues to share what he learned with friends and family, hoping the decision to call off his marriage will inspire others to do the same. With her mother’s and her community’s support, Cristina has returned to school and, like most teenage girls, is figuring out how she wants her life to unfold.

“I am the first in my family to [have studied] at university,” says Sandra, 23. She majored in marine biology at Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena in Ecuador. She grew up near the sea, but it wasn’t an easy upbringing – or road to becoming a marine biologist.

“My mother had me when she was 15,” Sandra says. “She suffered domestic violence. I saw my dad beat my mum because the food wasn’t good or because he didn’t like it.”

“My grandmother’s story is similar,” Sandra continues. “She didn’t graduate from high school. [She] got married, but [her husband] was an alcoholic and beat her.”

Eventually, both women escaped their violent marriages, but Sandra didn’t want to become the next generation of women suffering in her family. “My grandmother insisted that I explore new horizons,” she says.

For 12 years, Sandra took part in Plan International projects, where she honed her leadership skills to advocate against gender-based violence. “I have participated in forums with ministers of state and forums on teenage pregnancy and been on advisory councils, and [I] was even part of the university scholarship program, which allowed me to get my degree in biology,” she says.

“Since I am the first professional in the family, I feel I have to push my cousins to pursue school because [an] education is the best thing you can get. I tell them that this is the way to be independent – without the need for marriage.”

“Being under the sea is unlike anything you know,” Sandra says about her profession. “The colours are different, there are unusual shapes, and organisms move in a distinctive way. You are in someone else's territory, and you must respect it.”