Sheina

age 19, married at 14 in India

Sheina grew up and still lives on the far outskirts of the city of Pune. It is a rough-looking neighborhood of meager homes, and minimal incomes.

She said her life hasn't changed much since her marriage and the birth of her children. She is used to spending her days doing household chores—first in her mother's home, now in her in-laws' home.

Her father died when she was very young, so her mother thought she should arrange for Sheina to marry at a young age to secure her future. Her husband—a first cousin, a factory worker—was 20 when he married Sheina at 14. His family lived nearby, so Sheina grew up knowing him. And though Sheina had no choice about getting married, she also confided that she never thought one way or the other about whether getting married was something she wanted to do. Other people make such decisions for her.

Sheina's first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Her body was not ready to bear children, she said. Her two-year-old son, Suraj, and three-month-old daughter, Sharlu, were both Caesarean births. Sheina has since been sterilized.

Sheina said she likes her in-laws. There are only four of them, and they let her visit her mother whenever she likes, which is often. And since Sharlu's birth, she can visit her mother even more. Her mother's house is cooler than her in-law's home, which is made of corrugated tin and has no fan. It's much too hot inside for the baby.

Sheina only completed the 2nd grade and confessed she did not like school. She has no desire to return. What she would like—she'd do anything, she said—would be to get a job and bring in more money.