This youth advocate, Shakina, fortunately had a different start in life to many girls in India. From birth, she has always been told she can be anything she wants. Her parents have taught her that all girls are equal, and her grandfather encouraged her every day that being an independent woman is possible.

For many girls in India, it is a very different story. Over 15 million women were married before the age of 18 in India – the highest number in the world. The percentage of girls married before 18-years-old nationally is 23% or approximately one in four.

Authorities fear the situation has gotten even worse due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Forced migration, lack of work, and deepening inequality are pushing many families to marry off their daughters as a way to lessen financial burdens and conform to social traditions.

Growing up in on the southeast coast, Shakina observed girls suffering from gender-based violence, including child marriage and domestic abuse, often. She saw many of her female classmates remain at home due to persistent oppressive gender norms while their brothers freely went to school.

“Child marriage is a violation of girls’ rights which endangers the life and health of a girl,” she said.

Owing to the steady footing her family gave her, these harmful gender norms forced onto many of her friends did not sit right with her. She vowed to become a changemaker in Indian society and have her voice heard to end these harmful practices across the world.

Her Unstoppable Journey to Create Change

Sticking to her word, Shakina has been a gender-rights activist and championing against child marriage for over three years. Her messages have reached millions of people worldwide.

“As an activist my concern for society, especially for girls and young women, lies in my heart and mind all the time. I’m engaged in advocacy. We all know little effort can make a huge change in society,” she said. “It’s high time we prevent all discrimination against women. No cries of girls should be ever heard. Only the smiles are to be seen on every face.”

Through Plan International India’s Girls Advocacy Alliance, Shakina became part of a growing network of youth advocates who are empowered through gender-transformative communication tools, a key focus of which is to develop skills of the girls in communicating with authority figures. The Girls Advocacy Alliance also provides tools and resources to young activists to get the messages across to other young people, their parents, religious leaders, local authorities, and decision-makers.

Equipped with the training, know-how, and newly found communication tools, Shakina has been on an unstoppable journey to campaign against ending child marriage and promoting a gender-equal society.

“I go door to door, area to area, colleges, schools, orphanages, and more places to raise my voice against social issues in the country, and also to create awareness among people to know more and be aware of their rights and responsibilities,” she said.

Her calendar every day is full of commitments. Her list of achievements is endless. This dedication to gender equality has taken her voice from her coastal town to countless destinations. With her fellow advocates, she has stood in front of and questioned many national party leaders about the security of women and girls in India. She has attended a multitude of forums and various panel discussions, including working with the corporate sector to promote job-oriented vocational training courses for underprivileged women and girls.

“The best thing is that all our coordination with companies were successful, and they immediately accepted to offer the things that we wanted and what we requested,” she said.

Perhaps her most emotive and impactful work has been within the classrooms of schools and universities. There, Shakina and her Girls Advocacy Alliance partners are able to connect with other youths, and create awareness on child marriages, child trafficking and domestic violence to students.

“I took the pledge of being a changemaker for my nation, and I was given a chance to be a youth advocate. I came forward to get my fellow youth friends to know more, learn more and do more for the nation,” she said.

At one Urdu school, she and her fellow Girls Advocacy Alliance members met students who were married and pregnant in their teens. She and her fellow members listened to past experiences where students had to help deliver their classmates’ babies due to a lack of services and support.

Shakina could not just sit there and listen: “We didn’t want the system to be repeated. We shared Child Helpline numbers and our mobile numbers to offer help from our side, because it’s our duty to protect our people.”

Reaching out to Millions

Inspired to change the lives of fellow girls in her community, Shakina is leaving no stone unturned to prevent early and child marriage in her community. She discusses the issues impacting girls with community members, and spreads awareness via different platforms, including radio and social media. Her popularity on social media helps her reach out to millions of her followers every day – through various video clips, interviews, and campaigns.

“Digital platforms play a key role by creating awareness among people of all age groups,” she said. “My voice has reached millions of people on social media. Using social media hashtags, I’ve reached many powerful departments, organizations, police and politicians who really came forward to help me in preventing child marriages.”

Shakina’s work is not without its troubles. As a public voice, she frequently faces backlash from those not ready to change, but, as ever, she continues to fight for what she believes in.

“I´m working hard to vanish social evils, struggling daily, hearing harsh comments, social bullying, but here I am, still surviving and voicing for impoverished girls and young women,” she said.

In her activism against child marriage, Shakina’s voice has reached millions of people throughout India and the world. She often speaks out at various regional and global forums, highlighting the incredible work she has been doing and raising awareness of further work needed in the fight against child marriage and other forms of gender-based discrimination. She even represented India as a Youth Advocate at the UN’s 2020 High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development.

“It was a great platform to meet with great people like the UN State Secretary and other Youth Advocates. It was worth listening to the many questions, answers, and suggestions to ensure countries have an equal place for all genders. I met with Youth Advocates from Bangladesh, Uganda, and many other countries and made new friends, which gave me a lot of encouragement,” she said.

Whether it be campaigning on the streets, using her influential social media platforms, or going on the radio to advocate for girls across India, Shakina is a young woman with the drive and passion to end child marriage. And there are no signs of this stopping.

“It may be night or day we, the young changemakers, will strive hard to help the people at any time and anywhere,” she said. “Our dream is to help people to help themselves, and to raise our voice and hands going forward against harmful social issues that are creating terror in each and every citizen of the nation. I really want to thank Plan International for giving me this great platform to help people and become their voice.”

The Girls Advocacy Alliance

Completed in 2020, after four years of implementation, The Girls Advocacy Alliance placed girls at the forefront in the fight against child, early and forced marriage, with astonishing results.

495 youth advocates were given special training sessions to learn how to influence religious leaders, members of the community and local authorities to reduce child marriage, child trafficking and other inter-related forms of violence against girls and women. The project was simultaneously striving to make education for girls more accessible.

The Girls Advocacy Alliance created opportunities for girls to engage with people in positions of power within their communities and help everyone better understand what perpetuates child, early and forced marriage and its detrimental consequences. It pushed parents and community leaders to let girls get educated and not become victims of child marriage. And it empowered young women to continue their activism and improve the lives of many in their communities.

Girls and youths play a central role in supporting Plan International’s vision of a world in which children’s rights are respected and protected, and where girls are empowered to lead and treated equally and without discrimination. The Girls Advocacy Alliance, and many other projects, follow Plan International’s core strategy when fighting for girls and young women’s rights: to empower girls and provide the right tools and knowledge to prevent and reduce child marriage and child trafficking in their communities.

Categories: Campaigns, Protection from violence, Sexual and reproductive health and rights, Youth empowerment Tags: Activism, child marriage, Civic engagement, girls' leadership, Youth in media