Abby Connolly
When she was 16, Sonita lived in Iran alone after her family returned to Afghanistan to plan one of her brother’s weddings. That’s when she learned that her family was considering selling her into marriage and that her mother had found a man to marry and “buy her.”
Upon hearing this news, Sonita wrote her viral and powerful rap, “Daughters For Sale,” a song against forced marriage, which is tragically a common issue in her home country as many families sell their daughters into marriage to escape poverty.
Sonita recorded a music video for “Daughters For Sale” and uploaded it to YouTube around the same time documentarian Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami made a film on her life and experience escaping a forced marriage titled, Sonita.
It was released in 2016 and won awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
Since her song and video went viral, Sonita has been living in the United States and continuing to raise awareness against forced child marriages publicly. She’s spoken at the United Nations and has worked with famous activists and Nobel Laureates.
Sonita also created a curriculum on child marriage which has been shared with one million students.
Sonita has been studying music and human rights at the esteemed Bard College in New York and is set to graduate this year. Congratulations, Sonita!
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