World Press Awards

Yesterday the winners of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest were announced in Amsterdam. Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda was the overall winner, but my eyes were drawn to the above photo by Stephanie Sinclair (USA), who won First Prize Contemporary Issues Stories with her series "Child Brides: Too Young to Wed" taken in Yemen for National Geographic. The men look like giants. Tahani, the girl in pink, was only 6 years old when she married her husband, aged 25. Her classmate and friend Ghada, in the foreground, was also a child bride. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to outlaw forced marriage in Britain, but still hasn't got round to it (CLICK). The title link takes you to a BBC News slide show of winning entries.