Worth of a Girl

Purpose of the 'Worth of a Girl':
The purpose of the 'Worth of a Girl' documentary is to expose the connection across cultural, religious and national boundaries between the monetary value placed on young women, which is the root cause of child marriage and the denial of education that limits young women from living productive lives.

'Worth of a Girl' aims to provide a wide-ranging look at child marriage and its impact around the world. The documentary includes stories from child brides in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Turkey, and the United States.

In addition, 'Worth of a Girl' is unique in its use of social media to solicit views from a global audience about child marriage. One of the strengths of the documentary is the use of audience responses that were both for and against child marriage. These often contradictory responses are included in the documentary.

Description of the 'Worth of a Girl':
'Worth of A Girl' is a documentary about child marriage around the world. It explores how being a child bride affects girls economically, educationally and emotionally. In a yearlong project, Voice of America interviewed child brides from South and East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, including the United States. Their moving stories, told through their own words and experiences, vividly highlight their lives.

VOA reporters around the world focused on the worth of a girl to reveal how a young bride is valued by two families: the one she leaves behind and the one she joins. And what is the cost to the girl herself of marrying before age 18? To solicit global views during our reporting, VOA news teams—representing 12 languages—posted short videos of girls and women describing their experiences as brides and young mothers. These social media videos received millions of views and thousands of comments, from strings of emojis to provocative arguments for and against child marriage.

Impact of of the 'Worth of a Girl':
'Worth of a Girl' is part of a larger effort to report about child marriage, which has helped to impact the conversation about raising the minimum age of marriage in several countries, most notably in Indonesia and the state of Missouri in the United States.

The 'Worth of a Girl' documentary on child marriage has its beginning in March 2018, when VOA reporter Eva Mazrieva produced a three-part web and radio series that put a spotlight on the issue of child marriage in Indonesia.

The series gave voice to the victims who proclaimed that what they need is a “diploma, not a marriage certificate.” The reports also looked at the impact of child marriage to next generation with the increase of stunting among newborns in the country. Finally, the series dissected the antiquated 1974 Marriage Law allowing girls as young as 16 to enter marriage and the complications around advocacy for updating the law.

Because of this reporting, Ms. Mazrieva was asked to speak in a hearing about the marriage law by the Indonesian parliament’s Women’s Caucus. Efforts to campaign for the change by women’s activists continued and in September 2019, the marriage law was revised to change the legal marriage age to 19 for both boys and girls.

The reporting grew into a VOA-wide multimedia, multinational and multi-language project called 'The Worth of A Girl,' which in 2020 received a Silver Medal from the New York Film Festival and a nomination for the prestigious Webby Award.