About 15 million girls are being married as children every year. In some countries, it only needs a parent’s consent for this uncanny marriage to happen.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, more than 1.2 billion girls will be forced into child marriage by 2050.
To raise awareness, Corby Persin a YouTuber set up a social experiment to see how people would react once they see an old man being married to a young girl.
The startling video taken in Time Square, NY, shows a 65-year-old pensioner posing for photographs with his 12-year-old bride.
The odd couple left everyone open-mouthed in disbelief and it didn’t take long for someone to intervene.
One woman asks the girl if she was OK, the groom immediately cuts in and said it was fine as he had her parents’ permission.
Then a man steps in saying, “This is not right, you know this isn’t right. You can not do this to a little girl.”
The stunt gathered quiet some crowd and many were left in dismay and causes an outrage, which clearly shows child marriage isn’t right.
Watch the video:
Apparently, child marriage has been legal in 91 countries worldwide. In the state of Massachusetts, girls can marry at age 12 with their parents’ consent, while in California there is no minimum age with approval of a superior court judge and parental consent.
This child bride stunt was inspired by the original campaign done by a group called “KAFA” which shows the sad reality of child marriage, where thousands of young girls in Lebanon, Syria and around the world are forced into this sickening ordeal.