According to a unicef study from september 2016,in six governorates, early marriage was alarmingly widespread 18. It borders saudi arabia and oman on the north and the east. The republic of yemen or yemen is a nation in the middle east. Yemeni child bride sentenced to death as man 5 times her age. In yemen, 52% of girls are married before the age of 18. Apr 27, 2014 yemen is one of the few countries in the region now without any legal minimum age for marriage. Yemen takes a step toward law ending child marriage the new. Sanaa, april, 27, 2014 the yemeni government should expedite passage of a draft child rights law establishing 18 as yemens minimum marriage age. This nightmare is far from fantastical dreams of love and marriage, meeting prince charming and living happily ever after. Although yemen has been much less influenced by american or european ideas than other arab cultures, some outside influence does creep in through the internet and through yemeni communities in other countries. Child marriage in yemen as yemen transitions politically and restructures its constitution, the number one priority should be to protect its citizensparticularly yemeni girls who are too often subject to child marriage. But then the war began and the houthis did not ratify the document.
More than 40% of marriages in yemens poorest areas are celebrated with girls younger than 15. An extraordinary case of child marriage in yemen has highlighted the rising number of forced, underage weddings. Large number of girls who drop out of school do so because of early marriage leaving many women. The government of yemen sharia legislative is blocking attempts to increase the marriege age of girls by stating that this law is unislamic. Yemen is one of only two countries in the world that as no legislation on the minimum age for marriage. The picture show national geographic magazine photographer stephanie sinclair documents the secret world of child brides in cultures around the world. In early april, a yearold girl in yemen bled to death after being forced to have intercourse with her 23yearold husband. Mar 23, 2010 some of yemens most influential muslim leaders have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates. As has been seen recently in the case of syrian refugees, yemeni girls are being forced into child marriages at an increased rate due to the instability brought on by war. Child marriage in yemen history media on child marriage firsthand accounts maps of where child marriage is happening action plan to help stop child marriage universal declaration of human rights udhr bibliography child marriage is common in many parts of the world and is not exclusive to any particular religion or. Child marriage, according to international standards, is any form of union or marriage involving a party or parties below the age of 18. Lured by money and a sense of purpose, a growing number of young boys are being recruited by yemens warring factions. A february 2009 law set yemens minimum age for marriage at 17, but it was repealed after some lawmakers called it unislamic and sent back to.
Child marriage on the rise as conflict in yemen continues. Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the arab world, reported average annual growth in the range of 34% from 2000 through 2007. Nov 20, 20 the only two countries in the middle east without minimum age requirements for marriage are considering laws establishing a minimum age to protect women. If certain couples in yemen choose to divorce, their.
Yemeniamericans remain closely connected to their families in yemen, and often arrange marriages between young people from both countries. Eight million people and counting have watched a video featuring an 11yearold yemeni girl named nada alahdal. Mar 17, 2014 yemen is one of only two countries in the world that as no legislation on the minimum age for marriage. The problem, says safa, is that early marriage, driven by patriarchal tradition and poverty, is justified as a solution for families, denying these young girls their rights to life and choice. While there is little information on the prevalence of child marriage in yemen, unicef estimates that 32% of girls are married before the age of 18. Child marriage also occurs in parts of the middle east, including yemen and the rural maghreb. Apr 19, 2010 in early april, a yearold girl in yemen bled to death after being forced to have intercourse with her 23yearold husband. Yemen has taken a step toward outlawing child marriages. Yemen is the origin land of all arabs in the middle east. Globally, according to unicef, 36% of women aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union, forced or consensual, before.
Child marriage has long been a scourge in yemen, one of the few countries in the region without a legal minimum age of marriage. Thousands of children have been forced to flee their homes and communities and many have lost their access to. Sep 18, 20 yemen s human rights minister has vowed to ban child marriage after the reported death of an eightyearold girl on her wedding night huriya mashhoor said she would press parliament for the. Traditionally, poor families have married off underage girls in exchange for money, a practice that is not only unethical. Jan 23, 2014 yemen has taken a step toward outlawing child marriages. If a woman has to divorce a man in yemen she has to provide reasons, and she can only have one husband.
Sep 10, 20 sanaa, april, 27, 2014 the yemeni government should expedite passage of a draft child rights law establishing 18 as yemens minimum marriage age. A 2005 study by sanaa university noted that, in some rural areas, girls as young as eight are married. It is the 49th largest country in the world by area with 527,970 square kilometers 203,850 square miles. More than 50% of the yemeni girls are married before 18, in which some of them are married by 8 years old. Yemens next government should set minimum age at 18 beirut, december 8, 2011 widespread child marriage jeopardizes yemeni girls access to education, harms their health, and keeps them. In january 2015, after pressure from activists, yemen set a minimum age of 18 for marriage in a new constitution. A minor in a child marriage can be a girl or a boy, but the large majority of child marriages are between a girl and a man, and are rooted in gender inequality although the age of majority legal adulthood and marriageable age are usually designated at. In 1999, yemens parliament, citing religious grounds, abolished the legal minimum age for marriage for girls and boys, which was. More than 40% of marriages in yemen s poorest areas are celebrated with girls younger than 15. Child marriages on the rise amid yemeni conflict the. It is the old north yemen and south yemen, in the south of the arabian peninsula.
Oct 01, 20 child marriages are scandalously common in yemen. The 409page report, which mentions yemen 58 times, says the situation has left women with less protection and fewer avenues to redress for sexual and other violence, including female. Yemens youngest divorcee says father has squandered cash from. Many powerful kingdoms were in yemen, including the. Yemens progress in ending child marriage the borgen project. At its core, child marriage is a violation of child protection and human rights. Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between an adult and a child under a certain age, typically age eighteen. In the united states, child marriage is still permissible in some states, with parental or judicial consent. Yemen has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.
This rise in child marriages in yemen is a visible indicator of the conflicts disproportionate impact on children. They had music playing and they were singing, nujood recalls on journeyman tvs documentary why is yemen incapable of banning child marriage and rape. This practice, which is an affront to basic human rights for children and women alike, enjoys a status of legality with registration of marriages involving those below. Yemen is one of the few countries in the region now without any legal minimum age for marriage. Child marriages increasing as war in yemen continues. Yemen s economic fortunes depend mostly on declining oil resources, but the country is trying to diversify its earnings. The only two countries in the middle east without minimum age requirements for marriage are considering laws establishing a minimum age.
Yet dowrieswhich men still present to the brides family in exchange for her hand in marriagecan cost. Unfortunately, the forced marriage of young girls to older men is an all too. Some of yemens most influential muslim leaders have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates. Nujoods courageous defiance of both yemeni customs and her own family has. In tribes and cities old and new, it is very much an active practice to marry daughters as young as 5 years old to men old enough to be their grandfathers. The official name of the country is the republic of yemen. Mar 07, 2017 the government of yemen sharia legislative is blocking attempts to increase the marriege age of girls by stating that this law is unislamic. More than twothirds of yemeni girls are married off before they reach 18. Yemen is an arab country in western asia, occupying south arabia, the southern end of the arabian peninsula. Many factors can lead to child marriage or a forced marriage from financial or food insecurity to cultural or. Child marriages on the rise amid yemeni conflict the national. This happens because, in some regions they want to follow their traditions and keep them sacred, when they need money or need to pay off debts, child marriage is the only option. The average age of marriage in yemens rural areas is 12 to, a recent study by sana university researchers found. Ending child, early and forced marriage in yemen equitas.
Child marriage curtails the girls education and affects their health among others bruce, 2007. Child marriage is most common in aljawf and albaidha governorates. Tiny voices defy child marriage in yemen the new york times. To the south is the arabian sea, and to the west is the red sea. After about a year of work on finding a new system of government and to pave the way for general elections in 2014, a national conference of yemeni political, social and religious groups this week issued its proposals for a new constitution. This important book gives them a voice and sheds light on an ugly secret that has. Like nujood, she did not know the facts of life, she said. It was an arranged marriage in which she said a husband three times her age routinely beat and raped her. Yemen was admitted to the united nations on 30 september 1947. Jul 15, 2008 sanaa, yemen cnn nujood ali is 10 years old, but she already has been married and divorced. As the girls are getting older, child marriage at such a young age is devastating. Various studies show a strong correlation between a womans age at marriage and level of education. Child marriage and divorce in yemen by jenny cuffe bbc world service, assignment a narrow path leads up from the mountain town of jibla, through centuryold houses, and turns into a mud track before reaching the door of arwas home.
Pages in category novels set in yemen the following 2 pages are in this category, out of 2 total. Mar 25, 2010 yemens civil society and government organizations, with the support of international development agencies, are working hard to combat early marriage. Pages in category child marriage in yemen the following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total. According to human rights watch figures from 2006, 14% of girls are married by the time they are 15, and more than 50% before the age of.
Child marriages have been common all over the world. The official name of the country is the republic of yemen it is bordered by saudi arabia to the north, the red sea to the west, the gulf of aden and arabian sea to the south, and oman to the eastnortheast the official language is arabic it is the 49th largest country in the world. Tragedy shines light on lives of yemeni child brides. Rather, many yemeni girls are forced to marry men double their age. Oct 09, 2017 2 paths for yemens warscarred children. Rights group urges yemen to ban child marriage cbs news. Jan 22, 2018 more than twothirds of yemeni girls are married off before they reach 18.
A national demographic and health survey in 20 found that nearly 32 per cent of girls in yemen were married before the age of 18, including 9. The draft law in article 46c requires the official filling out the marriage contract to verify the. Yemens civil society and government organizations, with the support of international development agencies, are working hard to combat early marriage. The main reason why fathers marry off their girls is because of poverty. Ali has also written a book together with french journalist delphine minoui called. Girls who do not want to marry are often forced to do so by their families. The conflict in yemen is devastating the lives of 9. Yemen has backtracked on protecting girls from forced marriage. Dating and marriage practices in yemen dating tips. The scourge of gender inequality, underage marriage in yemen. Yemen marriage child abuses covered up world news sky news.
For a father in yemen, marriage is a way to protect his daughter from being raped in the street and losing her honor or from going hungry in her own home. Yemen owns the island of socotra 217 miles to the south off the coast of east africa. War in yemen forces more girls into child marriage middle east. If certain couples in yemen choose to divorce, their siblings. In a humanitarian crisis caused by the war, children are bearing much. The draft law in article 46c requires the official filling out the marriage contract to verify the age of both the man and the woman. Prior to recent progress, yemen had no legal minimum age for the marriage of its. Yemeni children, mostly boys, are trafficked across the northern border with saudi arabia or to the yemeni cities of aden and sanaa for forced labor, primarily as beggars, but also for domestic servitude or.
The scourge of gender inequality, underage marriage in yemen pune in recent times, women have fought through gigantic obstacles to be treated as equals alongside men. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage. From what looks like the seat of a car, she talks about why she left home because, she says, her parents tried to marry her off. Child marriage in yemen as equals cnn more than twothirds of yemeni girls are married off before they reach 18. Bbc news middle east child marriage and divorce in yemen. Yemen, there are sanctions only for women if there is some king kind of sexual abuse or if women try to escape the marriage or if women dont act as they are supposed to, likeaccording to how the national normative says they must. How one child in yemen is drawing attention to underage marriage. According to human rights watch figures from 2006, 14% of girls are married by the time they are 15, and more than 50% before the age of 18. Yemen takes a step toward law ending child marriage the. More than onequarter of girls in yemen are married before the age of. It is bordered by saudi arabia to the north, the red sea to the west, the gulf of aden and arabian sea to the south, and oman to the eastnortheast. The religious decree, issued sunday, imperils efforts to salvage legislation. Yemens human rights minister has vowed to ban child marriage after the reported death of an eightyearold girl on her wedding night huriya mashhoor said.
After about a year of work on finding a new system of government and to pave the way for general elections in 2014, a national conference of yemeni political, social and religious groups this week issued its proposals for a new constitution they include proposals for freedom of thought, expression, gender equality and womens. The story of a girl married at 11 tracks the horrors of. Sep 17, 20 child marriage in yemen as yemen transitions politically and restructures its constitution, the number one priority should be to protect its citizensparticularly yemeni girls who are too often subject to child marriage. Combat, or marriage a camp of displaced yemenis in the western village of khamer. Yemen is a country of origin and, to a much lesser extent, transit and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Were campaigning for children affected by conflict. Lured by money and a sense of purpose, a growing number of young boys are being recruited by yemen s warring factions. Ban on child brides is imperiled the new york times.
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