Nguvu Change Leader Roshni Perween amplifies call to end child marriage at the Global Summit

“At 13, I was forced into marriage with a 45-year-old man. I endured violence and unimaginable pain. By 15, I became a mother but found the courage to seek a new future for myself.

I worked for meagre wages and struggled to make ends meet. But still, I managed to stall 12 child marriages because I wanted no girl to face the same fate as mine.”

This was child marriage survivor and Nguvu Change Leader Roshni Perween narrating her story of grit at the recent Young Activists Summit in United Nations, Geneva, co-hosted by the United Nations on November 16, 2023.

The 25-year-old woman from Kishanganj, Bihar, became the first Indian youth leader to be selected for this prestigious honour ever and she was honoured as a Global Young Activist alongside 4 other Youth activists from Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Colombia, and Sudan.

Co-organised by the NGO dev.tv, the United Nations Office at Geneva, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), its Genève Vision label, and the Graduate Institute, this annual summit honors a small group of human rights, environmental, and land defenders under the age of 30.

In her inspiring speech at the Summit, as Roshni shared her journey from being a survivor to a Child Marriage Prevention Activist, she issued a poignant reminder of patriarchal norms and deep-rooted prejudices that created millions of child brides across the world. She also expressed the need for education and awareness among women so that child marriage could be challenged at the root.

“I am driven by my passion to collaborate with government authorities and lawmakers in my home country, India, to empower vulnerable girls through education and to end child marriage. My movement against child marriage started from my village in Kishanganj, Bihar. But I will spread it across India and ensure that no girl ends up being a child bride”, says Roshni.

Roshni has already launched an online campaign, where she has urged the government of her home state, Bihar, to organise awareness programs related to child marriage once every month in middle and high schools run by the government and private players.

She also urges that laws related to child marriage, trafficking, and child labour should be included in the curriculum of the middle and higher classes.

On her return to India, on November 25, 2023, Roshni was invited at the launch of a national program against gender-based violence; ‘Nai Chetna Abhiyaan’ organised by the Women and Child Development Corporation, Government of Bihar. This is a month-long gender awareness campaign that addresses issues like child marriage, dowry, and other social evils of society. Roshni was congratulated for her work against child marriage and her Young Activist Award.