Photo by Stephanie Sinclair stephsinclairpix / 2010 / Every two seconds a girl is married, which impacts some 12 million girls each year. This portrait in Yemen of child brides Ghada and Tahani—with their adult husbands—was part of a June 2011 National Geographic article, and then prominently featured in a global United Nations anti-child-marriage campaign spanning more than 25 countries. The UN and the U.S. now define protection from coerced early marriage as a basic human right. These beautiful young girls are also among the many who inspired me to found the charitable organization tooyoungtowed, whose mission is to empower girls and end child marriage globally. For more human rights and culture stories, follow me stephsinclairpix. #endchildmarriage #tooyoungtowed #girlsrights #letgirlslearn Our photographers have captured the era’s most important stories—from war and human tragedies to scientific breakthroughs and species saved from the brink of extinction. This image was a select...