Vijaylaxmi Sharma

Vijaylaxmi Sharma

Vijaylaxmi is only 24 years old but is an inspiration to many young girls in her village of Jhodinda, Rajasthan, where child marriage is common. She defied this age-old tradition and decided to follow her aspirations to go to college and live life the way she wanted. Convincing her parents was the biggest struggle. On her 13th birthday, Vijaylaxmi’s mother decided it was time for her daughter to get married. Vijaylaxmi protested, voicing her desire to study more and to get married at a later age. This decision did not go down well with her family. In response, they locked poor Vijaylaxmi up without any food or water for several days. As time passed by, the relationship remained strained. Vijaylaxmi’s parents were ridiculed for having an unmarried daughter and she was often shunned within her community. Then came a turn of events- a neighbour’s 14-year-old married daughter tragically died during childbirth. Shocked and with their eyes now open to the dangers of child marriage, her parents began to understand Vijaylaxmi’s defiance and to support their daughter’s decision. Time passed and news about Vijaylakshmi’s courage and achievements spread in the surrounding community. Other girls requested her to help them crusade for the fight against child marriage and she agreed. Today, Vijaylaxmi visits families of young girls to dissuade them from marrying their daughters at a young age and uses her life story to demonstrate that a bright future for girls can be within reach. Today, Vijaylaxmi is a dedicated teacher and is on the lookout for a husband.
Always a top student at school, Vijaylaxmi put her heart and soul into her education and career to be a teacher, a job she enjoys immensely. She hopes to travel across India to educate people about child marriage. She receives complete support from her family; even her two brothers accompany her when she visits other families.
Quote:“Women are the medium of society. Taking a stand against child marriage is something even boys will not do. What I have achieved as a girl makes my parents proud of me. I am proud of what I have achieved in this long hard road.”