As well as parents not being able to afford their children’s school fees, which affects us girls the most.
If a family is poor it’s always the daughter who has to quit school, not the son. This situation is dangerous for us. If we are left alone at home, men could exploit us. It’s common for girls to be abused by truck drivers passing our villages. Or for young girls to be taken to bars, where they are exploited during the night and then released in the morning. 
Last year some schoolmates and I got the chance to go to the capital city and learn about children’s rights at a WCP Child Rights Ambassador training event. I was delighted! It felt fantastic to learn about our rights. Most of the things I learned were completely new to me. It is a violation of girls’ rights to buy and sell our bodies. As a Child Rights Ambassador we now teach this to other girls in the Child Rights Clubs we have set up. I believe that trading in girls will gradually decline, and that girls’ lives will get better as a result.” 

Pride, 13, WCP Child Rights Ambassador, Sadza Primary School, Zimbabwe