The Worth of a Girl - A Voice of America Project

According to UNICEF, about 650 million children and women today were married before age 18, roughly 17% of the global female population. To get a more intimate look at how early marriage affects the life of young girls, Voice of America set out on a yearlong project to meet child brides from around the world and hear their stories.

The project is organized into one 27-minute long form documentary, and individual feature pieces of each child bride. All footage was contributed by VOA journalists around the world. All videos were edited by Phil Dierking.

The Worth of a Girl is the 2020 recipient of the 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for “Excellence in Social Media,” and the 2020 Clarion Award for “Online Journalism, Special Features Section.” It is also a 2020 finalist for the Webby Awards in Public Service & Activism, a 2020 Venice TV Award nominee for Best Documentary, and a finalist for the New York Festivals Television and Film Awards in Best Coverage of a Continuing News Story. The documentary will also be featured in the 2020 Moscow International Short Film Festival and the 2020 London Lift Off Film Festival.

The Worth of a Girl Documentary

"Worth of A Girl" takes a look at child marriage around the globe, and explores how being a child bride affects girls economically, educationally and emotion...

Individual features

With lenders "pressing hard" on her widowed mother, 11-year-old Babogai went from a childhood selling firewood and paper to help her family, to a young wife ...
Married at 16 to a man nearly as old as her father, Katie Burns built a loving relationship that has lasted for eight years. Voice of America reporters aroun...
At 13½, Orkida Driza knew little of marriage but understood family obligations as a member of Albania's Egyptian minority. Hers was to accept the match her m...
Somaya was 13 and completing seventh grade when, as she says, "I lost my childhood." Her father, Aminallah, accepted a $3,300 payment in exchange for marryin...
After refusing to marry, Mwanahamisi Abdallah sought help and now champions female empowerment. Voice of America reporters around the world focused on the wo...
Hoping to prevent her older boyfriend from being jailed for statutory rape, Ashley Duncan, then 15 and pregnant, married him. Now 25, and separated for sever...
In Indonesia, a former child bride pushes back, seeks change. Voice of America reporters around the world focused on the worth of a girl to reveal how a youn...
As a slender 13-year-old, Qubra Bibi was wed to a man roughly twice her age. Dodo Khan brought her to live in his family's compound in Pir Baksh Lashari, a v...
Living together outside of marriage is common among young Honduran women like her, says Olga Emelina Vásquez Pena. The 19-year-old says she moved in with her...
At 16, Shaima married a man 12 years her senior to ease her parents' money troubles. Soon after her marriage, her husband inflicted a beating that permanentl...
As Sultan Tümerdem approaches her sixth decade, she says she is "very happy" with her life, her husband and two sons. A homemaker in the Turkish city of Diya...