This woman, Elizabeth Siders, is 33 years old. She left her county for another county in the USA to get married at just 15. I sincerely hope child marriage has now been criminalised in those counties
She was then excommunicated from her family and went on to become pregnant 21 times, including a twin pregnancy. Sixteen of her children survived, but they were reportedly kept in conditions no child should ever endure. Investigators found them confined to a single 12-by-12-foot room for years, surrounded by human waste, with some unable to speak, others developmentally delayed, none enrolled in school, and several requiring urgent medical treatment.
This is what happens when adults fail a child.
A 15-year-old was allowed to leave home to become a wife and, when she needed support the most, was cut off by her own family. The consequences didn’t stop with her. Sixteen children were born into an environment where they were allegedly deprived of a childhood, an education, proper healthcare, and even basic dignity.
#ElizabethSiders