Each year, 15 million girls are married before their 18^th birthdays. That’s right, 15 million.

These marriages aren’t the typical, “Let’s run away without our parents knowing and get married because we are young and in love!” type of marriages. These relationships are involuntary and are often times physically and mentally abusive.

The staggering number of child brides across the globe almost seems surreal. But the custom is real and is a clear violation of human rights. Most people simply choose to ignore the issue (if they even know about it at all), because the tradition is fueled by poverty and social norms in countless countries.

We can no longer turn our backs on the children forced into marrying older, sexually experienced men. If we continue to let these girls down and allow the practice to carry on, an additional 1.2 billion children and young women will be reluctantly and unhappily married by the year 2050.

The issue has recently come into public spotlight because of a new Guatemalan law that increases the minimum age of marriage to 18. Previously, the law prohibited marriage under the age of 14 for girls, and 16 for boys. With a judge's approval, it is still possible under the new regulation to marry at 16.

Although a significant step forward for human rights in Guatemala, laws are only effective if enforced. Advocates of women and human rights worry that implementation of the new law will be difficult in the rural areas of the country where child marriage is not only tradition but is also seemingly necessary for poor families.

According to UNICEF, 30 percent of Guatemalan girls are married by the age of 18 and seven percent are married by age 15. These young girls are robbed of their childhood, of their true potential, and many times of their education.

Thousands of child brides are unable to finish their education because they become pregnant very early in their marriage, and are required to drop out of school. The definition of child marriage is entering a formal or informal union before the age of 18; considering this fact, there are millions of young teen pregnancies across the globe.

About a quarter of Guatemalan births is to teenage mothers. Outside of Guatemala and around the world, pregnancy is a leading cause of death for girls ranging from ages 15 to 19.

Children should not be mothers.

The new Guatemalan law will hopefully help decrease the number of deaths due to pregnancy; however, other countries need to follow Guatemala’s lead and enforce stricter child marriage regulations.

In order to prevent the problem from continuing, we must first bring awareness to the primary causes of child marriage. Girls Not Brides states the leading causes as tradition, gender roles, poverty, and security.

By giving away daughters at a young age, families can greatly reduce their expenses. With one less child to worry about, costs for food, clothing, schooling, and shelter decrease.

Additionally, many families believe that removing their daughters from the poor communities they currently live in will provide safety against physical and sexual assault. Yet, most child marriages result in domestic abuse.

Sexual violence and exploitation, depression, and monetary dependency are just a few of the effects of marrying at such a young age, along with interfering with health, education, and future opportunities.

Child marriage does not only affect girls, either; there are 156 million men in the world today who were married before they turned 18.

Imagine what life would be like if you had involuntarily been a child bride or groom. These girls and boys are forcefully deprived of the ability to simply be children.

Help world leaders achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal of ending child marriage by 2030!