Dress and suit fittings

Venue

DJ, photographer, flowers

And the list goes on ….

Excitement, and inevitably nerves, are building ahead of the big day! Our wonderful daughter, Kailey will marry her partner, Henry, in a few weeks! Family and friends from across the UK and the globe will come together in a corner of rural Leicestershire to witness and celebrate their union; one shaped by love and devotion and forged over the past eight years.

While Kailey is entering this union on her own free will, this was not the case for Mary whom I met in Kampala a few years ago. Mary is one of the 12 million girls globally, who every year, marry before the age of 18 and often against their will. Early and forced marriage and unions, fuelled by gender inequality, poverty, and social norms, have devastating consequences for girls all over the world.
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Girls forced to marry before the age of 18 are more likely to have early pregnancies, often with dangerous complications, and experience domestic violence. They are expected to drop out of school to look after the home and family. These girls miss out on developing the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to make informed decisions, access paid employment, and live independent lives. With little access to education and economic opportunities, girls and their families are more likely to live in poverty. In short, early, and forced marriage and unions snuff out potential. Disempower.

Organisations like VOW for Girls are making it possible for communities and local organisations across the world to end child marriage. VOW channels the positive power of celebrations to raise funds, drive awareness, and change the futures of girls everywhere. Through a range of interventions such as girls’ clubs, they help to build girls’ agency and leadership skills and transform restrictive social norms. To date, VOW for Girls has provided support to over 200 organisations across 16 countries to end the root causes of child marriage in their own communities. They are serving girls around the world whose futures are most at risk.

Supporting efforts to end child marriage is a key plank of my professional work. But Mary’s journey and that of millions of girls around the world supported by VOW also resonate at a personal level. My mother married young and turned her life around, becoming a successful small business owner. I often refer to her as the ‘original comeback kid’. She also became a fierce advocate for girls’ education, women’s rights and financial independence. She was undoubtedly the first feminist I knew! And so it is for these deeply personal reasons that my husband Daniel and I, with our close family and friends joined forces with Kailey and Henry to VOW their wedding. Our contribution will give girls a chance to decide their futures including the decision on when and how to embrace marriage. But there is so much more to do. Do check out VOW for Girls!