Home to 28 million people, Nepal masks a centuries old practice. The country registers one of the highest child marriages in the world with 37% of girls married under the legal age of 20 years. Steeped in patriarchy and poverty, women are viewed as a burden to be unloaded through marriage as early as possible. This widespread practice often leads to girls dropping out of school, life-threatening teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands to even dowry-related murders. In a Channel NewsAsia investigation, we visit remote villages in the Himalayan country to follow activists fighting an uphill battle against centuries old traditions and customs with an aim to create awareness to stop child marriages.
