Exclusive: Report reveals hidden reality of child marriage. Three girls share the impact on their lives

 

International Day of the Girl: Plan International report spotlights barriers keeping girls out of school

Backpack campaign expands opportunities for girls to learn and lead

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2025 — Plan International is spotlighting education as one of the most powerful pathways to a brighter future. It opens doors to opportunity, safety and leadership, and lays the foundation for a world where every girl can learn, lead, decide and thrive. Yet for millions of girls, that future remains out of reach.  To confront the barriers that disrupt girls’ learning, Plan released its 2025 State of the World’s Girls report and launched a matching gift campaign to help more children stay in school and continue their education without interruption.

Report highlights how child marriage cuts education short

Plan’s 2025 State of the World’s Girls report, “Let Me Be a Child, Not a Wife: Girls’ Experiences of Living Through Child Marriage,” reveals how child, early and forced marriage remains one of the biggest barriers to girls’ education. Across 15 countries, 251 girls who married before age 18 shared their stories:

— 63% were no longer in school, training or work after marriage.

— Over one in three dropped out of school directly because of marriage.

— Only a small minority were able to continue their education after marriage, and most said they regretted the opportunities they lost.

 

These stories show how child marriage often robs girls of the chance to learn, to build skills and to shape their own future. While often seen as a global issue, child marriage remains a concern in the United States. Children can still be married in 34 states — and between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 minors were legally married.

The findings are already sparking global conversations, with an in-depth CNN As Equals feature bringing the issue to a wider audience.

 

Read the full report.  

 

“Every girl is worthy of an education, yet across the world, too many girls are kept from school by poverty, safety concerns, accessibility and cultural norms like early marriage,” said Shanna Marzilli, president and CEO of Plan International USA. “We know that when girls have the support they need to learn and lead, entire communities rise.”

That’s why this International Day of the Girl, Plan invites supporters to join the journey to break down those barriers so every girl can go to school, stay in school and decide the future she wants.

 

Don’t just give back, give backpacks

It starts with a backpack. A backpack is more than just school supplies. It’s a step to staying in school, lighting a movement for a world where every girl can choose her own future. Since the start of its backpack campaign, Plan has delivered backpacks filled with essential school supplies to children in five countries, helping them show up prepared, proud and ready to learn.

To mark International Day of the Girl, every backpack purchased in October will be matched, doubling your impact and providing the equivalent of 500 backpacks for young learners around the world.

 

 Give a girl a backpack and this October, your $25 gift will be doubled at www.planusa.org/give-backpacks.

 

These simple tools help to clear the path to uninterrupted education and greater opportunity. Learn more at www.planusa.org.

 

 

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Vannette Tolbert

Senior Manager, Communications

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 240.778.9077

 

About Plan International  

Plan International is an international development and humanitarian nonprofit that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of challenges children face. We are there from birth until adulthood, and we support children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity, while particularly focusing on the experiences of girls. With more than 85 years of experience, we work to transform lives in more than 80 countries. We won’t stop until we are all equal.