Seventeen-year-old Jessie faced being forced into marriage to her 40-year-old cousin in Bangladesh. She begged the British Consulate in Dhaka for help and officials stepped in. She is just one of an estimated tens of thousands of British women at risk of being forced into marriage.
Jessie's story ended well:
A year later, Jessie has her own small flat in London and is going to college, studying for GCSEs.
"I have to learn lots of things because I have no support from anyone, no support from my family, no one," she said.
As expected her relatives in the UK have kept away from her. It has been a huge change and challenge for her but she stands by her decision.
"My cousin didn't want me, he just wanted a passport. Lots of Bangladeshi girls have to do that, we have to marry our cousins bring them to this country and then get divorced because we don't know each other well."
Many more girls aren't so lucky.
[Via]
Mick Hartley 
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