There are so many issues in the world surrounding human rights and social welfare that will require attention and action. However, due to the severity and vastness of these issues, sometimes, a lot of them can get overlooked. Such example of an issue that often gets overlooked in the global sphere of communication is child marriage. It’s something that happens so often but not a lot of people are really aware of it.
However, there are plenty of us who are willing to do whatever it takes to shed some light on these important issues that need more public clamor and attention. And that is exactly what Coby Persin decided to do in a viral YouTube video that he produced for his channel. In a very controversial attempt at highlighting the outrageous laws surrounding child marriage, Coby decided to conduct a social experiment and capture it all on video.
Coby hired a couple of actors, a girl who posed as a 12-year-old “bride” and an elder man who posed as the 65-year-old “groom” in the experiment. They were then fitted in wedding attire and were asked to pose for wedding photos right in the middle of a bustling Times Square in order to spark buzz and attention from passersby and onlookers.
The video begins with Coby explaining to viewers how child marriage is still legal in 91 countries around the world – even in the United States where the experiment took place.
So, in order to shed more light and draw more attention to the issue, Coby decided to place the visibly older man and his underage “bride” right in the middle of Times Square.
He directs them to sit and pose throughout various parts of the square. And to no one’s surprise, a lot of people were actually quick to notice the oddity of the situation that was taking place right before their eyes. It didn’t take too long before people actually started approaching the man and his visibly upset underage bride.
One woman chose to disregard the man because of her genuine concern for the little girl. “Where is your mom?” she asked. The elderly man then tried to explain that he had already garnered the little girl’s parents’ permission to have her hand in marriage. This only proceeded to agitate the concerned woman even further prompting her to scream, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
In a separate case, a young man showed increasing concern for the event that was taking place right before his very eyes. He demanded to know just how old the girl really was and asked whether what they were doing was even legal, to begin with.
“This is bulls***! This is not right!” he loudly exclaims. “And I’m sure if we called the cops, you would get locked up!” After noticing that he was visibly upset over everything, the “groom” then said that he brought along security as insurance for protection.
In another instance, a woman approached the situation in a calmer and more serene manner seemingly in an effort to not cause a fuss and upset the little girl. She calmly questions them about what is going on and whether the little girl wanted to carry on with what she was doing. After the girl failed to give her a reply, she immediately grabs her arm and leads her away from the elderly guy.
While the fake newlyweds were snapping more photos in front of a store, a couple of young men approached them and ask about the girl’s aged. They were absolutely surprised to learn that she was only 12-years-old and they expressed deep concern over whether she was okay with everything that was happening.
When the little girl didn’t confirm that she was okay with it, one of the guys decided to push the elder man up against the wall while the other man led the girl towards a safe distance.
In the last part of the video, a visibly large crowd is gathering around the couple while a man expresses his ire over what he thinks he is witnessing. He begins to cuss out of anger at the elder man even going as far as calling him a sick pervert.
He then proceeds to get right into the elder’s face as if to engage in a fisticuff with him but security sweeps in before things start to escalate to anything further.
The YouTube video then ends with a shocking statistic about how 33,000 girls are married as kids every day in spite of their reluctance. You can watch it below:
