Actually, Tamuna dreamed of becoming a dancer. But when she was 15, she was married to a strange man - and pregnant. After a month, her husband started beating her. The other members of the family also left their anger on the young woman if she did not perform her duties quickly enough. Three years after her marriage, she fled with her son to her parents.

Tamuna's fate is not an isolated case in Georgia: not infrequently, underage women are married to older men they did not know or hardly knew before. Photographer Myriam Meloni has met ten of these children's brides together with journalist Elena Ledda.

They got in contact with the young people through non-governmental organizations, social workers and educators. However, to be able to talk to the young women, Ledda and Meloni first had to seek the consent of the in-laws, the husband and the candidates themselves.

"The girls were pretty shy while their relatives were in the room," says Meloni. She and Ledda therefore needed to develop strategies on how to be alone with the young women without offending the other family members. "Only then could we have an honest conversation."

In the photos, Meloni focused on the young women themselves, showing them mostly in their home, with their children in their arms or with other relatives. However, some of the girls remain invisible: Instead of 16-year-old Naila, Meloni was only allowed to take pictures of pumpkins - her husband forbade him to take pictures of her.

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10 pictures

Forced connection: Georgia's young brides

Although the minimum legal age for marrying in Georgia is 18, the families legally avoid it: many couples marry secretly and have their marriage officially registered years later.

But why are so many girls getting involved, even though they are not necessarily forced into marriages? For many of them, it's normal for their parents to choose a husband for them, because that's how it was with their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

"It's a centuries-old tradition that is not limited to a region or religion, but is culturally determined," says Meloni. "Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and religious practices, as well as rooted patriarchal values ​​are also key themes," says Meloni.

After marrying, many of these girls stop going to school and, according to the families, they no longer need education: they move into the house of the in-laws and are supposed to devote themselves entirely to family and domestic activities. Thus they lose the opportunity for economic and social independence.

"In order to prevent these marriages, not only do laws need to be changed, but cultural and social changes must take place," Meloni says. But until then it was still a long way.