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As a stay-at-home mom, I sometimes feel isolated from the world. Here I reach out to my neighbors in small ways, through my computer. Great? No. But better than nothing.

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No 11-year-old should be forced to marry an old man

February 17, 2016

In Burkina Faso, the government isn't enforcing its own laws against marrying girls off when they're still children, often to much older men.

Amnesty International is collecting signatures, as well as doing a letter campaign, in defense of these girls, many of whom have escaped at great risk to themselves.

Isn't that just their culture? Who do you think you are?

Just because something is cultural doesn't make it right. We need to tread carefully, but this is the country's own law. Child marriage is also in violation of human rights treaties Burkina Faso has signed.

But here's the clincher. If your 13-year-old was forced to marry a 70-year-old man who already had five wives (yes, this really happened), wouldn't you want anyone and everyone to fight for her?

Would you just say, "Well, that's my culture and people should leave her alone"? Of course not. You want what's best for your daughters or other young women you know. And you know that doesn't include getting pregnant at 13, being denied schooling, and being forced to do hard labor for a husband who shows no care.

Pressure from the international community works. You can add your voice.

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©Teresa Jackson 2016. All rights reserved.