Monsoons fuel child brides

Many girls face even more hardship aft er marriage.

As monsoon rains were about to break over Pakistan, 14-yearold Shamila and her 13-year-old sister Amina were married off in exchange for money, a decision their parents made to help the family survive the threat of floods.

"I was happy to hear I was getting married... I thought my life would become easier," Shamila told AFP after her wedding to a man twice her age.

"But I have nothing more. And with the rain, I fear I will have even less, if that is possible."

Pakistan's high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022, such weddings are now on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.

The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.

Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.

"This has led to a new trend of 'monsoon brides"," said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of the NGO Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.

"Families will find any means of survival. The first and most obvious way is to give their daughters away in marriage in exchange for money."