Too Young to Wed (TYTW)

About us

Too Young to Wed, a nonprofit organization, traces its official launch back to October 11, 2012 – the first International Day of the Girl Child. Dignitaries from around the world gathered at the United Nations in New York City that day and, surrounded by photographs of child brides as young as 5, pledged to do whatever it took to end child marriage.
Too Young to Wed is a nonprofit providing visual evidence of the human rights challenges faced by girls and women around the world. Using the power of visual storytelling, Too Young To Wed aims to protect girls rights and end child marriage worldwide.

We envision a world where:
Every girl can decide for herself, if, when and to whom she will marry; Girls are free to be children and teens, with access to gender-specific healthcare and all levels of education; All girls are free to determine the course of their own lives.

Too Young to Wed's mission is to empower girls and end child marriage globally. We do this by providing visual evidence of the human rights challenges faced by women and girls. Through powerful storytelling, Too Young to Wed amplifies their courageous voices, building a global community dedicated to ending child, early and forced marriage and inspiring the global community to act. Through our groundbreaking Tehani Photo Workshops and scholarships, we transform influential advocacy into tangible action in the communities where the girls in our images live.

Programs:
• Original Reporting: Using world class photojournalism, TYTW strives to break through the noise and stop people as they scroll. We have decades-long relationships with respected media partners to help us distribute the stories of child brides globally. Through these partnerships, we have reached billions of viewers in the last 15 years. These stories have an arresting power over out global audience, and act as a major advocacy tool for TYTW.
• The Tehani Photo Workshop: Named after 8-year-old Yemeni child bride Tehani, the workshop is a seven-day immersive art therapy and empowerment retreat. This nurturing safe space is created for survivors to share their experiences, and promotes an inclusive healing community that lasts well beyond the workshop. Photography, journalism and storytelling skill-building is at the core of our workshops, centered on the importance and power of survivors’ voices. Our curriculum is built by a licensed trauma therapist, and is crucially informed by the feedback of our participants. These girls become champions for girls’ rights in their communities, leading awareness campaigns in a final exhibition of their photographs where attendees include family members, village elders, and regional and national leaders.
• Leadership Scholarships: Too Young to Wed's direct support focuses on countries with high numbers and rates of child, early and forced marriages. Our Leadership Scholarship program supports girls-at-risk for and survivors of child marriage, and creates pathways for them to thrive. In having access to sustained education, these girls become the voices of change in their communities. We support the creation of a new generation of young women leaders, who will positively transform their local communities. We aim to provide safe and healing spaces and cultivate the physical, psychological, and social and spiritual well-being of their students. Leadership scholarships are beyond academic excellence.
• Emergency Fund: Our emergency fund supports the immediate needs of the most vulnerable and disempowered people we encounter in our work.
• In Nigeria, we work with Boko Haram survivors. Leadership scholarships, vocational training, case management, psychosocial support and agro-based interventions have been offered to beneficiaries and their families. In the refugee camps, shelter has been provided for 150 additional girls and young women who escaped their forced into marriages to fighters.
• In Yemen, we support 525 girls in schools with a breakfast program. Looming famine makes child marriage an increasingly attractive option to families desperate for one less mouth to feed. Our program provides emergency assistance and education to girls in humanitarian settings where child marriages are often most common.
• In Nepal, TYTW currently provides 25 multi-year leadership scholarships for girls and boys most at risk of child marriage in Kagati village. After the 2015 earthquake, TYTW’s unique ability to connect partners on the ground was key to bringing assistance to the decimated Kagati village and led to the rebuilding of 50 homes.

Stephanie Sinclair is the Founding Executive Director and Maggie Andresen is the Digital Media Coordinator of Too Young to Wed (TYTW).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.