Why the fight against child marriage is going global

Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of Just Rights for Children (left, in dark suit), with Her Excellency Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone (center), following the adoption of the resolution. [Courtesy]

A child rights campaigner is taking the fight against child marriage to 39 countries, seeking to end the practice by 2030 after years of using courts and grassroots campaigns to protect children.

Bhuwan Ribhu, the architect and founder of Just Rights for Children, has built a global campaign that combines legal advocacy with grassroots mobilisation to tackle child marriage and other crimes against children.

Ribhu has also pushed for child marriage to be treated as child rape, seeking to reinforce its criminal nature and strengthen legal protection for children.

Since 2023, Just Rights for Children says it has prevented more than 530,000 children from child marriage and rescued more than 145,000 children from trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation through 95,000 prosecutions.

The network has also provided legal aid and psychosocial care to more than 45,000 child sexual abuse victims and supported more than 2,500 prosecutions and investigations involving child sexual abuse and exploitative material.

Ribhu launched a nationwide grassroots movement in India in 2024 involving women, girls and civil society organisations. The campaign preceded the launch of India's Child Marriage Free campaign, known as Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat, and Nepal's Child Marriage Free campaign.

As the global anchor of the Child Marriage Free World campaign, Ribhu now leads efforts across 39 countries to end child marriage by 2030.

He has also called on the United Nations to establish an International Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage.

Ribhu made the appeal during a high-level side event at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Sierra Leone, Nepal and other countries echoed the call.

His campaign follows years of legal action in India. Ribhu has filed about 60 public interest litigations before the Supreme Court and High Courts, resulting in judgments concerning child trafficking, child labour, child sexual abuse and child marriage.

In May 2025, the World Jurist Association awarded Ribhu its Medal of Honour for his work protecting children through law. He later became co-founder and chairperson of the association's global network, Jurists for Children Worldwide.