She refused child marriage and changed the course of her life

In the Ratanakiri province of Cambodia, where child marriage rates are the highest in the country, a 13-year-old girl from the Praov Indigenous group chose to prioritize her schooling over a forced union, a decision that initially cost her the relationship with her father and her standing in the community.

While Cambodian law sets the marriage age at 18, a legal exception for 16-year-olds with parental consent often serves as a gateway to forced marriage, where refusal is met with severe psychological and social costs. Girls like Kary are changing this tradition and helping others do the same. 

At just 13, she said no to child marriage 

At just 13 years old, Kary was told her future had already been decided. Her family wanted her to marry. She was expected to accept it quietly. Instead, she refused. For most, family pressure, poverty and social expectations leave young girls, especially in rural communities, with few choices but to leave school and get married.

Kary’s family pressured her with the claim that if she did not marry then, she would be considered too old for anyone to love later. This manipulation was compounded by the fact that the village of Ta Veng viewed her refusal as an act of moral failure. For two years, her father refused to speak to her or even look her in the face, a silent punishment meant to coerce her into the traditional role her mother had occupied. 

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: 

Her mother, Taby, is thin, a sarong firmly tied around her tiny waist. Forced into marriage at just 14, Taby has never been to school and is banned from working. Women in the village can only look after the children, cook and clean.

Despite the pressure, she did not give in. Today, Kary is studying psychology in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh—the first woman from her village to go to university. She hopes to become a journalist. More importantly, she hopes her story will inspire and embolden other young girls. 

Marriage age exceptions increases risk of coercion

Another teen from a nearby village was not so fortunate. Reporters met an 18-year-old mother who had been forced to marry a 24-year-old man when she was 16. Her “offense” was becoming pregnant out of wedlock. As punishment, she was banished from her village and forced to live on a farm during her pregnancy. Even more distressing was the financial penalty.

“They fined me a medium-sized pig, one chicken, and 100,000 to 200,000 riels [between $25 and $50],” she says. “I had to pay because I already had the baby. In the village, it’s taboo to have a child before marriage.”

Under Cambodian law, the legal minimum age for marriage is 18, though an exception allows for marriage at 16 with parental or guardian consent. Additionally, the marriage of minors under 18 is allowed if a girl is pregnant.

What begins as a cultural expectation quickly transforms into a forced child marriage when a girl’s refusal is met with psychological coercion, family estrangement, and community punishment.

Empowering girls can “transform entire economies” 

Kary was supported in her decision to not marry by a child marriage prevention program run by Plan Cambodia. After three years, the program has delivered major results. According to the agency, the number of girls married before age 18 has dropped by 65% across 86 villages. Even more striking, marriages involving girls under 15 fell by about 75%.

The figures mark a significant shift in communities where early and forced marriage had long been common. Aid workers say the progress was hard won through sustained local engagement. Youth groups were formed across the country, with many led by girls themselves. These groups now meet regularly to discuss sex education, reproductive health and relationships. As a result, topics once considered taboo are now openly discussed in safe peer settings. 

According to Susanne Legena, the chief executive of Plan International Australia:

If you can keep a girl in school, if you can avoid her being married off early or being exposed to violence, if you can keep her healthy, then you can really … give her economic opportunities, you can actually transform entire economies.  

Pointedly, the campaign’s impact extends beyond just marriage rates. Plan Cambodia says secondary school completion has risen sharply in participating communities. Vocational training enrolment and university admissions have also increased. When girls remain in school, they are more likely to gain financial independence and make decisions about their own futures. 

Aid cuts threatening to undermine progress 

Despite the success, aid groups warn that progress could stall. Plan International says recent cuts to US foreign aid under the Trump administration have created new uncertainty for programs supporting children and girls worldwide. There are also concerns that other countries, including Australia, may follow suit and reduce their overseas aid spending. 

Cambodia’s results show that child marriage is not inevitable. When communities invest in girls, change can happen. The challenge facing us right now is sustaining that hard-won momentum. Join Freedom United’s campaign to end forced child marriage by demanding stronger protections, sustained funding for education and child protection programs, and accountability from governments whose policies put children at risk.