UN Women supports Gaza men in preventing early marriage of girls

One of them, Mossa Abu Taema, convinced the father of a 16-year-old in one of the most conservative villages in eastern Khan Younis, a border town in the Gaza Strip, to cancel her wedding and allow her to continue her education.

A group of thirty men in Gaza has succeeded in preventing the early marriage of girls under the age of 18, from 50 different families, thanks to a training programme supported by the UN gender agency, UN Women.

One of them, Mossa Abu Taema, convinced the father of a 16-year-old in one of the most conservative villages in eastern Khan Younis, a border town in the Gaza Strip, to cancel her wedding and allow her to continue her education.

An estimated 21 percent of marriages in Gaza in 2017, involved girls under-18.

Ahead of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign which begins on 25 November, read more here about how men are reversing traditional norms and promoting gender equality.