The findings are based solely on the words of the PEER participants, whose quotes are used throughout the report. The PEER participants described their lives, dominated by poverty and gender inequality. Most girls are removed from school due to entrenched social norms undervaluing girls’ education. Most commonly married at 12 and 15, girls are expected to enter a sexual relationship as soon as they are married. Excluded from decisions affecting their own lives, most ‘knew nothing’ about arrangements being made for their marriage, as it is normally ‘parents or elders of the family who make the decision’.
