It took my sister’s ‘honour’ killing for me to be free from my child marriage

The first thing I noticed was that he was old, he had a receding hairline and he dressed like one of my uncles (Picture: Payzee Malika)

When I was 16, I was a typical teenager growing up in South London.

I hoarded pop star posters of Britney Spears and Westlife to stick inside my wardrobe doors; I really enjoyed school and collected Goosebumps books.

But, unlike most of my teenage peers, I was also being forced into marriage. 

I was born in Kurdistan in Iraq, just like my parents.