Marrying little girls is grotesque and inhuman. Look, I know you’re supposed to be tolerant and accepting of all of the world’s people and cultures, but you have to draw the line at violence and things that we know are wrong. A lot of countries disagree with the United States’ stance on the death penalty and our actions of torture; I tend to agree with them. I also tend to disagree with other countries’ policies toward treating women, gays, and children—particularly in the case of child brides.

Knowing that in countries like Uganda, India and Niger over half of the female population is married before they even turn 18 simply turns my stomach. This is before they can even legally smoke or vote in our country; psychologists agree that under this age, the mind is still often in stages of growth and development that characterize a child or teenager, not an adult. Why on Earth would a child or teen be forced to marry and assume adult responsibilities—especially having sex and giving birth—before their minds or bodies are ready to do so?

It gets worse. Many of these girls—up to 76% in some countries—are as young as age 7 or 8. This is the age that girls are in second or third grade, just learning cursive handwriting and sometimes even still losing baby teeth in our country. Most girls this age haven’t even started menstruating—and don’t know much, if anything, about puberty yet. Could you imagine marrying your little girl off at such an early age?

More than 100 million girls will be married off at such ages in the developing world within the next decade. Aside from the pain and trauma they will experience from being forced to grow up so early, they will also experience domestic violence, a high rate of both infant and maternal death, marital rape, HIV, and poverty—among other horrors. Child brides under age 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women who are above age 20.

Most will also be denied a chance to receive an education that would help them learn vital skills that would help them escape poverty, creating better lives for both themselves and their potential offspring.

Their marriages are also often horrible. Married at such a young age, without an education, these girls are often very unconfident and unable to negotiate with their husbands and in-laws about their own health and other needs. Their life outlook is a very bleak one.

You can stand up today to help fight child marriage. The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are considering legislation that would help prevent child marriage around the world. Please call or write your representative and senator and ask him or her to cosponsor this legislation, HR 2103 and S 987, to help young girls get a better future—and to help them combat poverty in their own countries. We can’t expect the world to become a better place until we can empower tomorrow’s mothers today—and we can do that by ensuring their health and education today.