Reached Out To Media Today and Details of Upcoming Presentation

Hi Everyone,

I'm slowly but surely getting more supporters on my petition.  While I may have only 179 signatures, I am very grateful for the support.  It means the world to me that people are opening their hearts and minds to this very real problem of forced marriage and child marriage.  It's happening here in our communities and we can't turn a blind eye to it.

With Martin Luther King Day coming up tomorrow, we can't forget his very significant words that he wrote from jail: "Freedom is never given voluntarily by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Well, I'm demanding freedom for all those potential child marriage victims and forced marriage victims.  Why should they have a life of slavery, and have their freedom taken away from them?  They deserve their right to choose, a right to education, and a right to a brighter future.  Do you know that girls who are just children themselves should not be giving birth to babies as their bodies aren't mature enough to deal with child birth?  Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death in young women aged 15-19.  

I'm excited to announce that I reached out to the media today just minutes ago, and will keep on taking the steps necessary until I get enough attention drawn to this cause.  

I'm also excited to announce that I will be speaking at the upcoming January VAMP: Wild Card hosted by So Say We All at the Whistle Stop Bar at 2236 Fern Street, San Diego, CA  92104 at 8:30 pm on Thursday, January 30th.   I'll be speaking my story about my forced marriage, and when you hear it, I'm sure you will know why this should never happen to anyone else!  I presented my story at four speaking engagements in 2019, and it's great to start the New Year with my first speaking engagement of 2020!  If you're in San Diego, please come to the Whistle Stop Bar to come and support me, I would really appreciate it.  

Please continue sharing and encouraging your friends, colleagues, and neighbors to all get behind this cause.  Why would we want anyone else to suffer from a child marriage or forced marriage?

The link to my petition is https://www.change.org/EndChildMarriageAndEndForcedMarriage

Thank you,

Davinder Kaur

PS: the picture I'm posting with this update shows me at age 14, just so you can see how I looked when I was engaged at 14 years of age.  The picture to the right of it, shows me holding a sign stating "Forced Marriage is a human rights violation, it's abuse!  No one should be forced to marry a stranger!