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Times Store. Athlete Khurshid Muhammadi, 16, trains on Nov. Many young people are adamant about staying and fighting. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. Jawad Sezdah practices his breakdancing skills at a boxing gym in the Pul-e-Surkhta neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.
A group of friends practices freestyle rapping in Kabul, Afghanistan. Soaban Fareed, left, takes a puff during a recording session. Soaban Fareed with fellow rappers. Jawad Sezdah, bottom left, reacts to a joke by fellow rappers. People train at a gym in Kabul, Afghanistan. Khurshid Muhammadi, 16, trains at a gym three times a week. Khurshid Muhammadi, 16, right, during a training session in the ring. Khurshid Muhammadi worries that a Taliban return will mean women have to wear burkas.
Khurshid Muhammadi shows off tattoos on her wrist and hand. Khurshid Muhammadi at the gym in Kabul, Afghanistan. More stories. Soraya Shahidi, a tattoo artist, takes a moment to herself, at home. Soraya Shahidi, center, with her sister Zainab, keep warm around a heater at home. Soraya Shahidi, far left, with friends and family at home. Zainab Shahidi, right, works on curtains at home. In addition to a religious education, students also learn math, science and writing.
Students go over their books. A student at the school goes over a book. Muhammad Haidar, far right, makes jewelry at a market in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Students learn traditional woodworking in Kabul. A student in a classroom in Kabul. Faeqa Saramad, 17, second from right, forms soft metal in the jewelry-making workshop.
Students work on their jewelry designs. A student crafts his jewelry. Tools of the woodworking trade. Halima Sarwar, 62, weeps as she visits the grave of daughter Fatima, who was killed in a car bombing, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Halima Sarwar mourns her daughter, who was killed shortly after her 24th birthday. As they left, her father watching by the doorway, Parwana dug her feet into the dirt and tried to pull away -- but it was no use. She was dragged to the waiting car, which slowly pulled away. Since the Taliban's takeover, stories like Parwana's have been on the rise.
Though marrying off children under 15 is illegal nationwide, it has been commonly practiced for years, especially in more rural parts of Afghanistan. And it has only spread since August, driven by widespread hunger and desperation. More than half the population is facing acute food insecurity, according to a United Nations report released this week.
And more than 3 million children under age 5 face acute malnutrition in the coming months. All the while, food prices are soaring, banks are running out of money and workers are going unpaid.
Many of them live in tents and huts in internal displacement camps like Parwana's family. Men sitting at a camp for internally displaecd people in Qala-i-Naw, Badghis province, on October The problem is particularly acute for Afghan girls , who have stayed home and watched their brothers return to secondary school since the Taliban takeover. The Taliban said it is working on a plan to allow girls to return too, but have not said when that could happen or what conditions may be imposed.
The uncertainty combined with rising poverty has pushed many girls into the marriage market. And once a girl is sold as a bride, her chances of continuing an education or pursuing an independent path are close to zero. Instead, she faces a much darker future. Many are too young to be able to consent to sex and face complications in childbirth due to their underdeveloped bodies -- pregnancy-related mortality rates for girls aged 15 to 19 are more than double the rate for women aged 20 to 24, according to UNFPA.
Magul, a year-old girl in neighboring Ghor province, cries every day as she prepares to be sold to a year-old man to settle her family's debts. The buyer had dragged Magul's father, Ibrahim, to a Taliban prison and threatened to have him jailed for failing to repay his debt.
Ibrahim, who only goes by one name, said he promised the buyer he would pay in a month. But now time is up. Magul washes her family's dishes outside their home in Afghanistan's Ghor province. Magul's mother, Gul Afroz, feels just as helpless. Like Qorban, the buyer claimed he would not mistreat Magul and that she would simply help with cooking and cleaning at his home. But the reassurances ring hollow in the face of his threats against Magul's family.
If they make me go, I will kill myself," Magul said, sobbing as she sat on the floor of her home. It's a similar situation for a nine-member family in Ghor province that is selling two daughters aged 4 and 9. The father has no job, like most in the displacement camp -- but he faces even tougher odds with a disability.
Zaiton, the 4-year-old, with wispy bangs and large brown eyes, said she knows why this is happening: "Because we are a poor family and we don't have food to eat. Their grandmother, Rokhshana, is distraught. Zaiton, 4, plays with her brother at their home in Ghor province, Afghanistan. International funding dried up.
Local Taliban leaders in Badghis say they plan to distribute food to stop families selling their daughters. But the problem stretches beyond just Badghis.
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