The H4+ partnership

Dalia Asinde was married 16 years ago in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was 22 and in love, she said. But her husband soon became violent – and relentless. She lost count of the beatings, insults and torments he delivered.

On most weekday afternoons, you can find 22-year-old Hiba* working at a salon in Amman. But what few of her clients know is that she was once a child bride – an experience that haunted her for years.

I woke up one morning, and my father told me that we were poor and needed money,” said Faith Kiraison, describing the moment she learned she was engaged. She was 11 years old at the time. Her father explained that an elder in their village, in Kenya’s Narok County, would marry...