Yemen: Tiny Voices of Child Brides
August 23, 2008
Yemen confronts plight of child brides
Ginny Hill (Christian Science Monitor)
… According to estimates based on surveys by university researchers and development agencies, half of all brides in Yemen are age 18 or younger. But there are no reliable national figures.
Child brides are prevalent in Yemen because the minimum marriage age of 15 was revoked a decade ago to allow parents to decide when their daughters should marry. The ruling abides by an interpretation of the Koran that claims there is no prescribed age for marriage.
Deep-rooted traditions also play a role. “Early marriages are universal in Yemen because of the cultural premium placed on shaping a young bride to meet the husband’s needs,” explains Naseem ur-Rehman, the chief of communications for the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen….
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1.
Dr.Kevin | August 24, 2008 at 10:55 pm
United Nation’s Children’s Fund stay out of religion, my grandmother was married at 13 and my mother-in-law at 12 and it got them out of poverty and they live long and happy lives and would not go back and change anything.
2. Friday Links — Augu&hellip | August 29, 2008 at 2:01 am
[...] The Christian Science Monitor examines Yemen and the issue of child marriage. Via Progressive Muslima News. [...]
3.
INAL | August 30, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The plight of Yemeni society- the consequences they suffer due to the choices they make; their group think; their adherence to cultural tradition more than actual religion or established Law; and the prevailing lack of common sense, are some of the things that curtail or destroy a female space within that society. She has no space- to think; to decide; to act; her humanity is based solely on her ability to produce children- whether she is physically and/or psychologically able to.
Poverty is just one part of the vicious circle; lack of education is another component to the samsaric wheel that started- who knows maybe a couple of decades or even centuries ago- when public space and private space lost their defining lines and merged- leaving women as pure objects of possession.
Also outside influences have helped and harmed Yemeni society; creating a skewed society where mobiles, satellites where available; cars are as up to date as other countries; but where many can’t actually make the phones calls because they can’t read or write. They can’t make solid assessments of what they see on TV as oppossed to what is implied by what they see- judgement of the individual kind is sorely lacking.
The lack of reading and writing also helps maintain myths and misconceptions about how things work. Health care is one of those areas where its not the patient’s best interest but the husband’s or father’s call- deadly consequences in some cases -just look at the Mother/Infant Mortality and Morbidity rates for Yemen. Social interaction, even among the same gender is not normalized because there lacks a connection to the opposite side that would demystify those erroneous assumptions; inane arguments; and would probably curb inappropriate behaviours that can make a society even more backward than it seems.
Not everything is tied to religion- a comment; observation; and support ed study by any entity be they Muslim or NGO and their findings is not an immediate attack on any one’s religion- it is a statement of the “state of affairs” of a society that makes certain choices each day that are accumulative- and in some cases the effects are devastating both socially and individually.