Photo: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
In recent years previously posts on the plight of child marriage in Yemen, including The Growing Battle of Yemen’s Child Brides and Girls In Yemen Forced to Marry Too Young, have brought the attention of the grave nature violations and abuse across the country. The situation of child brides in Yemen since both posts has sadly made all too little progress and this week appears to have reached a major set back in the passing of laws to ban the practice in the country has once again been met with protest by some of the country’s leading Islamic clerics.
The support to pass laws to ban child marriage came heavily in 2008 after two child brides made international headlines after seeking to divorce their husbands. Nujood Ali, one of the child brides, who was granted a divorce from her husband after walking herself into court and relentlessly stating her case, continued to make international news headlines long after her story broke. Continuing her activism, she became a voice for child brides across the country, this year Ali co-authored, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, a story of her short yet trying life and battle to escape and advocate against child marriage.
The law under protest at current was passed in February 2009 to set the minimum age for marriage in Yemen at 17 years-old, however it was quickly repealed and sent back to parliament’s constitutional committee for review. The repeal was made after a number of lawmakers in the country deemed it un-Islamic. While the battle raged on in Yemen’s constitutional committee, the situation of child brides in Yemen once again made headlines in September 2009 as a 12 year-old child bride died during child birth (AP).
The committee is expected to make a final decision on the legislation next month, which has led to leading Islamic clerics in the country signing a decree to which they “have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates” (AP). Some of those clerics signing the decree are on the committee voting on the current law to ban child marriage. On Sunday those outraged by the decree by Islamic leaders organized a protest led mostly by a group of over 100 women.
It appears that the battle to end child marriages in Yemen continues to have a long battle ahead as hope for a passing of the long awaited ban looks bleak in light of continued opposition. Sadly the plight of young girls in Yemen is not an isolated case as child marriages continue in many countries around the globe. Poverty and economic hardships continue to fuel an increase in the practice in many other countries, such as Afghanistan, India, Ethiopia, and all too many others across the globe. Please see other posts on Child Marriage for more information.
