From a young age, I participated in dance, music, and sports classes. With my parents’ support, I was able to explore a range of activities to discover where my true passions lay.
I had the privilege of a path, the support to pursue my dreams, an education, and the freedom to still be a teenager while doing it. It’s a privilege I now understand is not afforded to every girl. For millions, that path is chosen for them before they’ve even had the chance to take their own first step.
As an ambassador for Plan International Australia, I’ve come to see just how fragile a girl’s childhood can be.
This year, for International Day of the Girl, we’re confronting one of the most prevalent injustices a girl can face: child marriage.
Plan International’s new report ‘Let me be a child, not a wife’, helps us understand this reality. Every year, 12 million girls are married before their 18th birthday. That’s one girl every three seconds.
It’s a number so big it’s almost impossible to imagine, but behind it are individual lives and dreams, stolen too soon. This isn’t a problem that’s just rooted in the past. In our digital age, it’s taking on new and complex forms.
The report shows how social media can create a false sense of choice, where online relationships quickly lead to pressure from family to marry, often to protect a girl’s ‘honour’. It’s a reminder that while the tools may be new, the traditions that trap girls remain.
The report gives a voice to these girls, like Juna from Nepal.
Married young, she describes her experience as leading to a “dark future,” a life where she was deprived of everything.
Her story is echoed by so many others who speak of being dominated by older partners, of the immense weight of adult responsibilities, and the quiet, crushing toll it takes on their mental health.
But what gives me hope is the incredible strength of these girls, and the very real impact of the work being done in communities around the world.
I think of Kanada, a young woman from Cambodia. Married at 17, she felt her world shrink.
But through a Plan International skills-training program, she built a new path for herself. She became the only female motorcycle mechanic in her community.
Despite the doubts from others, she persevered, opened her own repair shop, and is now proud to run her own business. She’s not just earning an income; she’s showing every girl in her village that their future isn’t written for them.
Kanada’s story shows that when a girl is given a choice, she doesn’t just change her own life – she can change her entire community.
This is what Plan International’s work is all about. It’s about creating those choices. It’s about funding skills training, supporting girls to stay in school, and working with families and community leaders to challenge the harmful norms that allow child marriage to persist.
This International Day of the Girl, we have a choice too.
We can be overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, or we can be inspired by the courage of girls like Juna and Kanada.
We can add our voice to the growing global call to let girls be girls, not brides.
This article was written by Plan International Australia Ambassador, actress and gender equality activist, Phoebe Tonkin.
