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Child marriage, which steals the innocence of millions of girls worldwide and often condemns them to lives of poverty, ignorance and poor health, is one of the biggest obstacles to development, Reuters reports.

A girl under the age of 18 is married every three seconds -- that's 10 million each year -- often without her consent and sometimes to a much older man. Most of those marriages take place in Africa, the Middle East or South Asia.

Girls forced into early marriage rarely continue their education, denying them any hope of independence, the ability to earn a livelihood or of making an economic contribution to their households.

Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than women over 20. Worldwide, 70,000 girls aged 15-19 die each year during pregnancy or childbirth.

"This is one of the biggest development issues of our time and we're committed to raising the voices of millions of girls married against their will," charity group Plan UK head Marie Staunton said. （點擊路透社網站查看原文）

童婚毀掉數百萬女孩兒

???????據路透社報道，童婚為最大的發展障礙之一，因為它奪去了全世界數百萬女孩的童真，致使她們貧困、無知，損壞了她們的健康。

???????每3秒鐘就有一個18歲以下的女孩出嫁，即一年1000萬個女孩。結婚經常未經過本人同意，有時她們嫁給年長很多的人。這類婚姻大多數發生在非洲、中東和南亞。

???????早婚的女孩一般放棄學業，致使她們沒希望獨立，學不到謀生的本領和為家庭做經濟貢獻的本領。

???????15歲以下的女孩懷孕或生產期間的死亡率是20歲以上女子的5倍。每年全世界有7萬名15至19歲的女孩在懷孕或生產期間死亡。

???????慈善組織“英國計劃”的負責人瑪麗·斯丹頓說：“這是當代最大的發展問題之一。我們致力于提高對數百萬被迫成婚的女孩的關注度。”

(China.org.cn August 9, 2011)