In April in the post, Girls In Yemen Forced to Marry Too Young, an introduction to the abuses committed against girls who are forced into marriage too early, including highlighting the hindrance that child marriage is placing on the country's development. According to a recent study by Sana University, researchers found the average age of marriage in rural Yemen to be 12 to 13. According to a report issued in 2007 by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), 48.4% of Yemeni women under the age of 18 were married. Why are girls married off so young? Poverty and economic hardship are the root cause of the problem, which ironically has only led it to develop into a cycle of poverty. Girls are pulled from school for marriage leaving most illiterate. Child marriages also lead to higher instances of domestic violence and early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights.
Last month The New York Times article, Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen, brought to light the harsh reality of child marriage in Yemen, after two young brides, only 8 and 10 have come forward to escape from their abusive husbands. In April 8 year old (10 according to some later articles) Nujood Ali was granted a divorce from her husband after walking herself into court and relentlessly stating her case. Arwa Abdu Muhammad, who was 9 when she ran a way seeking help at a local hospital after her husband raped and abused her. Nujood and Arwa, have used their voices to spark a new movement in the country against child marriages. The National Women's Committee (NWC), a government body, has recently called for an end to child marriage, proposing that the minimum age for marriage be set at 18 (IRIN). Additionally the NWC proposed punishments be given to all who participate in the establishment of a child marriage, with a one-year jail sentence or a $ 500 fine.
In 1979 the minimum legal age of marriage 16 for women and 18 for men according to Yemeni law, then in 1992 the minimum legal age was dropped to 15, however in in 1998 Parliament revised the law to allow girls to be married earlier if they did not live with their husbands before they reached sexual maturity. The loose revision of the law leaves reckless room for the abuse of countless girls, and only highlights the backwards steps the country has been making in regards to gender equality and the rights of the child.
However as the Times article points out, that while support is growing to ban child marriage the fight is far from easy as; “Hard-line Islamic conservatives, whose influence has grown enormously in the past two decades, defend it, pointing to the Prophet Muhammad's marriage to a 9-year-old. Child marriage is deeply rooted in local custom here, and even enshrined in an old tribal expression: "Give me a girl of 8, and I can give you a guarantee" for a good marriage.”
Sadly the plight of young girls in Yemen is not an isolated case as child marriages continue in many countries around the globe, and poverty and economic hardships are causing in increase in the practice in many other countries, such as Afghanistan. Please see other posts on Child Marriage for more information.
