Let's stop the abuse and forced marriage of so many young girls now!

Reports reveal shocking truths about what young girls face in countries such as Somalia and Bangladesh.

Here are the appalling details of the abuse.

According to UNICEF, these are some of the shockingly dangerous countries for girls to live in today.

• Experts claim that girls from underprivileged nations have a life expectancy which is shorter by 20 years as compared to other girls.
• Additionally, 120 million girls (young women under the age of 20) have already experienced sexual violence in their lives. That is about one in every ten girls.
• Girls between the age of 5-14 years around the world, work a total of 550 million hours per day, including housework. That’s as much as twice the amount of hours of work that men do.

The child rights organization Save The Children shares the following startling facts:

• 2.6 billion women and girls live in countries where marital rape is not a crime.
• Over half the brides in Niger, Mali and Bangladesh are children.
• Over one in three women in developing countries have no paid employment or haven’t attended school.

Here’s a summary of the countries where girls face great challenges:

• Somalia has the world’s highest rate of female genital mutilation. 98% of women between the ages of 15-49 are victims of genital mutilation. Globally, over three million girls are at the risk of suffering genital mutilation. Over 200 million women have already been victims.
• In Bangladesh, several young girls are married even before they reach 18. Ironically, the legal age for marriage is 18 for women in Bangladesh. However, it is reported that people bribe government officials to get a forged birth certificate where the girl’s age is changed.

People share their opinions on social media:

The abuse and forced marriage of young girls worldwide should stop now.

As Michelle Obama aptly said:

Image credit: DFID- UK Department For International Development/flickr