‘I am still a child, it cannot be good to be married’: how drought forces Afghan families to sell girls as brides

The Guardian reports the following. ENC is republishing it as an attributed briefing, not as independently confirmed fact. If this item is false or incomplete, the responsibility sits with The Guardian, which released it. As climate breakdown pushes families to starvation, many feel forced to ‘sacrifice’ daughters to save siblings. Photographer Elise Blanchard travelled the country speaking to girls as young as eight, 10 and 14 who have been engaged or married to repay debts or pay for food ‘I’m not happy about this,” says 11-year-old Khatira, who was sold into marriage to repay debts, sitting in her home in Qala-e-Naw, capital of Badghis province in north-west Afghanistan. “She was healthy before her engagement, now she is worried and cries a lot,” says her 40-year-old mother, Noor Bibi. When her 20-year-old husband-to-be comes to her home, Khatira runs away. Since her engagement, she has stopped going outside because she “is ashamed of having a husband in front of the other girls”, says her mother. Sheph… Original link: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/oct/15/afghanistan-drought-hunger-displaced-families-girls-child-marriage-poverty