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Their body, their rights that we need to protect

Because at their home country, they are not respected. Although forced and early marriage is illegal in Burkina Faso, over 52% of the girls get married before they turn 18 and 10% before 15 - according to a UNICEF report. In extreme cases, In Burkina Faso, some girls were as young as 11 when they were forced to enter into a marriage with a spouse who could be even 30 to 50 years older than the bride. 

 >> Watch Amnesty International's video.
In Burkina Faso, women and girls are far too often prevented from making other crucial decisions, such as whether or when to get pregnant. When women raise the issue of birth control with their partners, they very often suffer verbal abuse or physical violence. 
Nearly 30% of 15- to 19-year-old girls and young women in rural areas are pregnant or have had their first baby despite the risk that they are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as those over the age of 20.
Early marriage and early pregnancy mean that very few girls have the chance to go to school or complete their education. Only 64.2% of girls in Burkina Faso can access education, but many of them are forced to give up school early to get married or to take on domestic work or other duties. 
“What is the point in sending you to school? There is no benefit from girls being educated,” recalls her parents’ retort a 16-year-old girl, who fled forced marriage, when she asked them why she couldn’t go to school.
>>TAKE ACTION! Join us in calling on the Burkinabé government to enforce the application of national laws banning forced and early marriage and make contraception free. Sign this petition. 

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