Fatoumata

Fatoumata, 14, called it “the nightmare of my life” when her family said she was to marry her 39-year-old cousin. She fled that night in her pajamas to stay with a friend’s family.

“My father said if I refused this marriage I was no longer his child,” she said. “He threatened my mother too ... she has suffered because of me.” She gave only her first name for fear of reprisals.