In 2023, ECData, the data journalism unit at the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, revealed that, on average, almost 30 marriages with minors under 16 years of age were registered each year in Peru. In 10 years, more than 4,000 underage marriages had taken place in the country.

The story showed how even though it was illegal to marry a minor under 16 years of age, a modification of the civil code and a flawed judicial interpretation opened the door to unions with children as young as 14. The data showed marriages had been registered even with minors of that age.

Beyond the data

El Comercio managed to locate and make contact with one of the children who, at only 12 years old, had been forced to marry her abuser — who was her mother’s boyfriend. She had become pregnant as a result of the rape. Based on this disturbing case, we were able to show minors were often forced to marry their abuser to prevent their imprisonment.

After publishing the story, we launched “No More Child Abuse. Because Growing Up Without Fear Is a Right,” a campaign that utilised social media formats to amplify the report’s findings, making them go viral. It also sought to establish a collaborative dynamic between the newsroom and the public, to engage decision-makers and encourage them to take specific actions.

In this way, we used social media to humanise hard data, make complex problems visible through original formats, mobilise citizens to exert citizen pressure, and ultimately reach decision-makers to promote specific measures to protect minors in the country.

The videos published on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube exceeded half a million views (543,588). The public engaged significantly, with over 40,000 interactions, including a thousand comments in support of the campaign, notably from the young target audience (18 to 24 years old). TikTok was the most effective platform for conveying our message, achieving over 300,000 views across four videos.

Driving change

Thanks to the citizen pressure encouraged by the campaign, on November 2, 2023, a bill that sought to eliminate marriage with minors was scheduled, debated, and approved unanimously in Parliament. This marked a historic decision, as child marriage was explicitly banned in Peru.

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