Yemen: Where Men Marry Children

GlobalPost:

SANAA, Yemen -- A new white dress, chains of gold jewelry sparkling brightly and more attention than this 13-year-old girl had ever received before: It was like playing dress-up, but better, for Zainab Hussein.

"I'm a bride and I'm getting married!" she bragged to her friend, showing off her new jewelry.
A few days later, Zainab, who'd barely reached full growth, was married off to a 30-year-old groom who also was her cousin. He paid $5,000 to Zainab's father for his child bride.

Read the whole story: GlobalPost

Comments

[glitterik]

01:14 PM on 04/08/2010

Girls in this country are giving birth as young as 9 or 10. But they aren't married, so I guess it doesn't count?

[riff4u]

07:02 AM on 04/07/2010

Here in Florida a girl can be legally married at 14.

[leora kurtzer]

06:48 AM on 04/09/2010

but there are not many cases of girls actually getting married at 14 let alone against their wishes bc their dad has a debt to pay off.

[riff4u]

09:40 PM on 04/09/2010

You will not find "marriage" among many 14 year olds where there is a legal and religious contract and there is consent and an agreement to take care of each other. On the other hand there is an outrageous amount of child abuse, molestation, rape, torture and murder where there is no religious or legal agreement, but rather some hefty felony charges involved.

[riff4u]

09:41 PM on 04/09/2010

Go to any Florida trailer park and you will find much of the above

[kennyfasugbe]

01:50 AM on 04/07/2010

Child marriage has been a custom in antiquity. That fact is not enough to allow it to continue. It is a practice which needs to stop. It is like slavery, which was widespread in the past, but extinct for the most part of the world of today.

[CigarGod]

08:29 AM on 03/30/2010

Until the last couple years, several USA states allowed 13 year olds to marry.
Europe still has age 14 and 15 age of consent.

Hope this article doesn't led some to further demonize a "darker" race.

[Pema]

09:04 AM on 03/30/2010

of course it does. its part of the stuble racism, (they think its ok because theres terrorists living there). when have we seen one single positive story about any person living in any arab state? i cant remember a one.

[CigarGod]

09:09 AM on 03/30/2010

It is also hard to find any positive or inspirational films.
Netflix has a few good films, though.
Much harder to find Palestinian...except doc's.

[Donna Lum]

04:00 AM on 04/10/2010

Please read "Half the Sky" by Nicolas Kristof. A very positive book about human rights in Arab countries.

[kennyfasugbe]

01:49 AM on 04/07/2010

Before we forget, the sex consent age in the Vatican is 12! No news media is talking about that in the course of talking about the sex scandal rattling the church.

[riff4u]

06:52 AM on 04/14/2010

Is that 12 year old boys with priests?

[Ospree19]

07:13 AM on 03/30/2010

Pwdophelia is big in Ju daism too.

[Pema]

10:00 AM on 03/30/2010

many of these brides dont go to live with these men till they are older. so its not all of what it seems. but yes it needs to change.

[Anbreen]

01:51 PM on 04/12/2010

That's true. In older times (actually, also at present, some places) the girls married at age nine, but did not move to the husbands home, or have intercourse until after her first period. That was the case with Mohammad's wife, Aisha.

[iLoveGiraffes]

01:46 AM on 03/30/2010

Who are we to impose our morality upon them?

[julian101]

03:33 AM on 03/30/2010

people who dont rape children....well...excluding the pope of course

[iLoveGiraffes]

04:22 AM on 03/30/2010

Uhm. This girl was not raped.

[ChristopherAtom]

07:08 AM on 03/30/2010

Ok, what if these men wanted to marry Giraffes so they could have sex with them and beat them when they are insolent, would you be cool with that?

[CigarGod]

10:27 AM on 03/30/2010

Please try to ground yourself....

[iLoveGiraffes]

03:24 PM on 03/30/2010

Whether I'm ok with I does not matter. I have no authority to impose my morality upon them. All I can do is preach.

[OrangeSalad]

05:33 PM on 03/29/2010

There are states here that permit children to marry with their parents consent

California: no statutory minimum, those under 18 must receive approval of a superior court judge, or parental consent
Georgia: 18, 15 with parental consent, 16 without parental consent if pregnant
New Hampshire: 18, 14 for males and 13 for females, in cases of "special cause" with parental consent and court permission

[ChristopherAtom]

07:11 AM on 03/30/2010

So are you against these laws or do you think they are just the bee knees?

[Pema]

01:38 PM on 03/30/2010

these girls seldom go to the husbands house until they are older. its also a way to keep them fed if they are impovished. you might want to get a wider view. not everyone has opportunities or even food. ive travelled to many 3 world countries, developing nations. if you have a problem with it, chance are you'll just have to accept it. life is isnt as good for kids in many countries. what bothers me is your so shocked. this has been going on since humans gathered in groups. heres another shocker. the second largest industry in the world is hman trafficking,. the us at any one time has an est 20,000 people living as slaves. the world can be a harsh place.

[Lefty83]

04:37 PM on 03/29/2010

Hey, Warren Jeffs? Remember him? Happens here too.

[FreedomOnionSoup]

08:05 PM on 03/29/2010

And jeffs was on the fbi's most wanted list and is now sitting in prison where he will likely remain for the rest of his life.

HUGE difference.

[ChristopherAtom]

07:14 AM on 03/30/2010

That's the way the pope talks.

"Other people do it too!"

[totalliberal]

03:37 PM on 03/29/2010

I believe M0h@med married a child.

[PWM]

05:11 PM on 03/29/2010

In his time it was common across the world.

[julian101]

03:38 AM on 03/30/2010

mmm, that is actually not true.
At least not in Ancient Rome or Greece, where something like a 50 year old man marrying a 9 year old would have been extremely taboo.

I'm not so much putting down muhammed by saying that, more sticking up for the Romans and Greeks, against such slander

[Pema]

09:07 AM on 03/30/2010

my franbdmother married at 14, her mother at 12. your correct. it was a way to keep the species alive, people forget until recently people didnt live to 75 and 80. just a couple of hundred years ago i think the life span was 35

[lightningbolt]

02:28 PM on 03/29/2010

Yemen is not the only place. Many other Muslim nations allow these atrocities to continue every day.

[goddessNdiva]

05:57 PM on 03/29/2010

America is not the only place. Many other Christian nations allow the atrocities of their pedophile priests to continue every day.

[lightningbolt]

07:11 PM on 03/29/2010

Even priests get arrested for committing crimes in most democratic nations once the crimes are discovered (that the catholic church allows this to continue is the church's fault). In most Muslim nations, child marriages are allowed to continue even though everyone knows about it. Governments in Muslim nations should make this practice illegal and enforce that law, but they don't do it.

[julian101]

03:47 AM on 03/30/2010

"Religion is culture. It dictates how people behave in a society."

Are you suggesting that people without religion lack culture?
To be frank, I think secular enlightenment humanistic culture kicks that bronze age nonsense's butt.

[Anbreen]

01:53 PM on 04/12/2010

As do other Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist nations, and even some of our US states.

[hip dibler]

01:20 PM on 03/29/2010

America, about 60 years ago.

[piul05]

04:13 PM on 03/29/2010

Latin America, a few decades ago (a ritual well described in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques); now, they just go and live with a man at a very early age;

Africa and Asia, still to these days.

I'm afraid this problem is more complex - the exception nowadays is actually marriage. In many cases, young girls will be the common "currency" in informal arrangements where they don't even count with the security of being in a formal, legal marriage.

[Michael Valentine]

01:15 PM on 03/29/2010

Utah.

[JustMeInNY]

05:44 PM on 03/29/2010

What about Utah?

[julian101]

03:40 AM on 03/30/2010

He is talking about the Mormon sects that do the same thing