Halima

age 15, married at 14 in Bangladesh

"I was stunned to hear that I was going to be married…

First I told my mother that I didn't want to marry because I was studying. Then I went to my father, but my father [a day laborer] told me, 'I do not have the capacity to help you study. I have found a good boy who seeks only a small amount of dowry. I do not want to miss this chance.'"

But Halima's father married her without giving dowry. Her face turned pale as she explained, "[My husband later] sought four-thousand 'takas' as dowry from my father but he has yet to receive it....people taunt him, saying, 'hey, your father-in-law didn't pay you the dowry yet? Beat his daughter and watch her bring the money!'

Hearing such comments my husband has beaten me twice. Sometimes, I tell him, 'You have seen my father's [impoverished] condition. How will beating me give me the ability to bring money from my father?'" As she recounted her story, Halima began to sob.