Sherry Johnson grew up in Tampa, Florida as a member of the Pentecostal church. She was only 11-years-old when her mother married her off to a man nearly twice her age. She had already been a victim of years of sexual violence, abuse that resulted in her first pregnancy at age nine.

As many as 12 million underage girls are forced to marry each year, meaning more than 650 million women alive today were married as children. In this episode, we explore the many causes of child marriage, including gender inequality, generational tradition, poverty, and war. We expose the global nature of this issue and how the U.S.—a country without any federal laws prohibiting child marriage—continues to contribute to these statistics.

Featuring Sherry Johnson, Founder of the Svon Foundation, Princess Mabel van Oranje, Founder and Global Champion at Girls Not Brides, and Tannistha Datta, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF.

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This episode is made possible with the support of Vodafone Americas Foundation. To learn more about their programs and how you can support their network of partners, visit vodafone-us.com

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Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media.

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