Stephanie Sinclair

Every year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 – and many are far younger. Curated by @tooyoungtowed President and CEO Stephanie Sinclair, these images tell the stories of girls affected by child marriage around the world. The photos are featured in the new report, Accelerating Efforts to End Child Marriage, from the @columbiaigp Women’s Initiative at @columbia.sipa , in partnership with @leaninorg . The report examines the devastating impact of child marriage – which costs an estimated $175 billion each year – and the solutions that can help end it. Photos by: @allisonsarahjoyce @khandelwal_saumya @stephsinclairpix @tompilston @abbiets

Huge congratulations to filmmakers @sarakhakifilms and @mohammadrezaeynifilms on the Oscar nomination for @cuttingthroughrocks_film . This film centers Iranian girls and women who are told they cannot lead, cannot decide, cannot be seen, and shows how they lead anyway, shaping their own lives and communities despite the cost. Their courage is more poignant now than ever. Pictured here with TYTW founder @stephsinclairpix at a NYC screening at @filmforumnyc , which TYTW was honored to co-present in support of the filmmakers and the women at the heart of this story, with support from the @inmaatfoundation , whose commitment to this film and to our work makes moments like this possible. At a time of intensified repression in Iran, this recognition matters. Our solidarity is with the people of Iran, especially girls and women continuing to push forward. Woman. Life. Freedom.

Congratulations to Canon Explorer of Light @stephsinclairpix on the amazing honor of having her work recognized within the 2025 edition of The New York Times' Year in Pictures feature: "I’m deeply grateful to the incredible team at The New York Times Magazine and to Jacqueline Vidosh and her wonderful son, Noah, for allowing me into their lives. It was a true honor to witness their bond and to help tell their story with the care it deserves.” - Stephanie Sinclair

Yelimar, 13, and Ethshailie, 10, joined our partners at Alianza Mujeres Viequenses for the second gathering of Las Mariposas de Vieques—a new girl-led space taking shape on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Safety looks different depending on where a girl grows up. In Puerto Rico, it might mean finally returning to a classroom after a storm. Across the U.S., it can mean learning to protect herself in a digital world that rarely puts her first. In more fragile settings, it might be a quiet lesson behind a closed door or learning in a tent instead of herding animals. As the 16 Days of Activism begin, we’re proud to launch Resilient Girls—TYTW’s new program strengthening the early protections girls need most. Across the United States and Puerto Rico, we’re creating girl-centered spaces, trusted adult networks, strong peer circles, and practical life-skills training so girls can navigate instability—and lead through it. And one more piece of good news: the @allendeisabel Foundation, a long-standing champion of women and girls, will match all gifts made during the 16 Days of Activism—now through December 10. Thank you for standing with girls everywhere, and for helping us launch Resilient Girls when it’s most needed. Photo by @stephsinclairpix . #16Days #16DaysOfActivism #EndGBV #GirlsRights #HumanRights

Had the honor of collaborating with Sherri Fink on her decade-long passion project chronicling families navigating the devastating diagnosis of Trisomy 18. Jacquine Vidosh, her son Noah, their family, and the incredible village supporting them were deeply inspiring—especially meaningful to me as a mother raising children with special needs. This beautiful, powerful article wrestles thoughtfully with difficult questions. Well worth the read. Special thanks to Jessica Dimson and David Carthas for inviting me to work on this important project. Deeply grateful for your trust and vision. Check the link in my bio for the full story.

Ritu (right), 21, and Rupa, 23, enjoy monsoon rains on a roof in Agra, India. Both women survived acid attacks. A star volleyball player, Ritu was attacked at just 17-years-old after refusing a marriage proposal from an older relative. Despite several reconstructive surgeries, she ultimately lost her left eye. Such violent acts are usually carried out by men as retribution for rejection—as if to say, ‘if I can’t have you, no one will.’ They occur in countries as far apart as Colombia, Bangladesh, and the UK which now has the highest number of recorded attacks in the world with 710 cases in 2022, marking a 69% rise since the previous year (Acid Survivors Trust International —ASTI). The @sheroes_hangout Cafes, run by acid attack survivors like Ritu and Rupa, are powerful spaces of resilience and empowerment. TYTW supported the café directly as part of our vocational programming and was honored to host the Tehani Photo Workshop which provided survivors with tools for self-expression and independence, turning their experiences into stories of strength. These collaborations highlight how compassion and opportunity can transform lives and inspire change. Help TYTW protect, support, and empower girls like Ritu and Rupa by donating today. Please give now at the link in our bio; your donations will go twice as far this year during TYTW’s #16DaysOfActivism thanks to the @allendeisabel Foundation, and help to support TYTW in its global work to fight against violence against girls. Photo by @stephsinclairpix as part of TYTW’s Girls on the Brink exhibition, which spotlights the dramatic rollback of girls’ rights in recent years. #16DaysofActivism #EndAcidViolence #SurvivorSupport #GBV #JusticeForWomen #TooYoungToWed

Join me for The Photo Society Presents Stephanie Sinclair on April 9, 2024 at 12:00PM ET, supported by our friends at MPB. Throughout my two-decade+ career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer and Canon Explorer of Light, I've used my images to shed light on critical gender and human rights issues. From my acclaimed series "Too Young to Wed" on child marriage to covering conflicts in the Middle East, I've witnessed the power of visual storytelling in advocacy. Join me as I share insights into my journey and our critical work at @tooyoungtowed which empowers and education at-risk girls throughout the globe. After the talk, engage in a Q&A session moderated by TPS Communications Director Alex Snyder. Plus, don't miss the chance to win one of my signed prints! This event is free and open to the public. Share the link: tinyurl.com/tpsstephanie

A guest opinion by Stephanie Sinclair (@stephsinclairpix ), a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who is the founder and president of @TooYoungToWed : Their names are Khoshbakht, Saliha, Fawzia, Benazir, Farzana and Nazia — Afghan girls ages 6 to 10 who have been sold into marriage. Desperation forced their parents to thrust them into brutal adulthood. In Shahrak-e-Sabz, a settlement of makeshift mud-brick homes and tents for the displaced in Herat province that we visited last month, our researchers counted 118 girls who had been sold as child brides, and 116 families with girls waiting for buyers. This amounts to 40 percent of families surveyed, even though the Taliban decreed in late 2021 that women should not be considered “property” and must consent to marriage. Across Afghanistan, child marriages have skyrocketed, and not only because of economic collapse. Families once hoped that their daughters, when educated, might find good work and contribute to the family income. Today, under the Taliban’s ever-increasing restrictions, school is prohibited for girls after the sixth grade, and work options for women are few. Sequestered at home, a girl becomes just another mouth to feed. But as a bride, she’s a valuable commodity. A $2,000 bride price is enough to feed a family for a year. For the girls, this is a nightmare. In their new in-laws’ homes, they are saddled with housework and often subject to verbal, physical and sexual abuse — slavery under the guise of matrimony. It’s no wonder suicide and depression are rising among teenage girls. To address the root causes of the child-bride phenomenon, my organization, Too Young to Wed, works to alleviate the hunger that stalks almost 90 percent of Afghans today. We provide parents with livelihood training so they can support their families rather than choose between starving or selling their children. In some cases, sensitive social workers can work with local authorities to annul marriages. In the midst of our fieldwork in Afghanistan, we worked with photographers to document the lives of families who have faced the prospect of child marriage. 🔗 Visit the link in the bio of @PostOpinions to read more.

Fawzia, 6, loves playing with her rabbit and wants to go to school. She is just one of the many Afghan girls ages 8 to 10 we met who have been sold into marriage. The Washington Post took the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to publish our OpEd (https://wapo.st/47visGw) highlighting the desperate situation of families living in Shahrak-e-Sabz, an internally displaced camp, outside Herat, Afghanistan. As the Post’s headline makes clear, the situation for these families is so dire that families are facing the impossible choice of starving or selling their girls. Many of these girls are as young as six years old. Too Young To Wed’s local team recently brought 234 girls from this single village onto its caseload – all of whom have had their childhoods bargained away, thrusting them into servitude under the guise of matrimony. We thank our TYTW community for helping us put our shared values of equality and justice, espoused by Dr. King, into action. Every donation to @tooyoungtowed (tooyoungtowed.org) helps to rewrite the stories of Shahrak-e-Sabz – turning despair into hope, one girl at a time.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to @CanonUSA for nominating me for the Professional Photographer Achievement Award, an honor I was privileged to receive today at the United Nations from the International Photographic Council, whose motto is “Peace through photography.” Researchers have summarized important relationship between womens’ rights and peace stating that “The promotion of gender equality goes far beyond the issue of social justice. It is a necessary condition for international peace.” This is especially important to remember during turbulent times. I’m humbled to join the other honorees today and remain committed to pursuing peace through my work, and that of @tooyoungtowed . Special thanks to Jessica Dimson and Kathy Ryan, who assigned me the story "What a High-Risk Pregnancy Looks Like After Dobbs," which I shared at the event today. It's been an honor to contribute to The New York Times Magazine for almost two decades. This portrait of Catrina Rainey and her family was made one month before her due date. Catrina learned that one of the twins she was carrying had a severe birth defect of the brain. It was unlikely to live past six months outside the womb and could, until birth, threaten the viability of the other fetus. She opted for a reduction — the termination of an unhealthy fetus to protect a healthy sibling. It was one of the last such procedures performed in Ohio. #womensrightsarehumanrights #peace #dobbs #canonexploreroflight

JUST RELEASED: “I don’t want to get married. I’m a kid, I don’t want a husband.” Mamlakat, 12, Ghor Province, Afghanistan. I spoke with @CNN correspondent Anna Coren about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and its devastating impact on girls and women. Girls have been banned from all levels of education and women have been restricted from working in most public sectors. Millions of Afghans are struggling to survive and girls are the most at-risk with an exponential increase of younger and younger girls being forced into marriage. Our TYTW local teams serve the most vulnerable girls and their families through the Parwana Food Security, Education, and Livelihoods program which provides family sensitization on child marriage, food assistance, educational programming, and livelihood training to more than 8000 Afghans. #cnn #tooyoungtowed #afghanistan #girlsonthebrink #endchildmarriage