One in seven girls under the age of 15 will become child brides in the world’s poorest regions, according to children’s charity Plan UK.

The charity’s hard-hitting Breaking Vows report says girls face being pulled out of school and developing serious health complications resulting from early pregnancy and childbirth.

But it’s not just in the world’s most destitute regions where underage girls fall victim to forced marriage.

The founder of a charity supporting victims of the practice, including young people in Bradford – named earlier this year as a national hotspot for forced marriage – says it’s not uncommon for children as young as five to be at the centre of marriage plans.

Campaigning to end child marriage globally, Plan UK has launched the Take The Vow petition urging political leaders to tackle the issue.

Those who have taken the vow include Bradford TV presenter Anita Rani, Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati, singer Sophie Ellis-Bexter and Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt.

“I think girls should be walking to school instead of down the aisle,” said Yorkshire actress Joanne. “With education comes opportunity and choice. Once a child starts to learn about the wider world beyond their direct experiences, it opens up the door to many different options to live one’s life.”

Plan UK chief executive Marie Staunton said: “Girls being forced to marry when they are still children is a practice imbedded in many cultures and traditions. An early, forced marriage often spells the end of a girl’s education.

“More can be done by the Government to strengthen its role in preventing early and forced marriage and supporting those who have fled or survived it.”

Last month the Government moved a step closer towards outlawing forced marriage in the UK.

The Prime Minister announced that the breach of Forced Marriage Prevention Orders would be criminalised, and he ordered the Home Office to consult on whether forced marriage should be an offence.

The move was welcomed by West Yorkshire-based charity Karma Nirvana, which runs the first 24-hour national helpline for victims of forced marriage and ‘honour’-related violence. The charity has placed Bradford the fourth-busiest city in the country, based on helpline calls.

Founder Jasvinder Sanghera, who ran away from a forced marriage aged 16, and was disowned by her family, is a Plan UK ambassador.

“I am a survivor of forced marriage and it is a horrific form of abuse,” she said. “It’s extremely important that we tackle early and forced marriage, whether it happens here or in Africa, Asia or other parts of the world. This issue needs to be on the international agenda.”

Jasvinder, a Sikh, has come across victims who were promised to someone from birth, and didn’t realise until they were older and were confronted with their own marriage.

“One of our male case workers was taken to Pakistan, aged ten, to what he thought was a party. It was actually a ‘marriage ceremony’ to a five-year-old cousin. When he was a teenager he was forced to marry her,” she says.

Karma Nirvana wants the Government to address concerns about why “thousands of children go missing from British schools”, and is working with professionals such as teachers, GPs, social workers and police officers to spot signs of forced marriage and honour violence risk from young people they come into contact with.

“I was born in England, it gave me an education, choice, independence. I went missing from school. My six sisters were taken out of school and married off,” says Jasvinder. “It is up to those in authority to challenge a situation like that, just as they would if white girls went missing.”

  • For more information on Take The Vow, visit plan-uk.org.