A 12-year-old Yemeni bride died of internal bleeding following intercourse three days after she was married off to an older man, the United Nations Children's Fund said. The girl's death is the latest in a series of child marriage cases in Yemen, where the minimum age to tie the knot is still under debate. "The government has been working tirelessly to cement the minimum marriage age but conservative parliamentarians have stood against it," said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the media. "Members of the conservative block need to step up to the responsibility of protecting the rights and freedoms of the young. NGOs must continue campaigning to shed the light on this unfortunate practice."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/09/yemen.child.bride.death/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I chose this article because I think the Yemen government needs to work harder on passing a law to save the lives of these young innocent girls. I understand that there are different laws in different countries, but this is ridiculous. These girls do not know any better, they are forced to get married at such a young age and expected to start having children, when they themselves are still children. Times have changed and there is no reason for girls of this age to get married. People leave much longer these days, it is not like the old days when girls where married young because people died young. I think the young girls in Yemen deserve to have more control over themselves since the people around them make such foolish decisions for them. Again, I understand all cultures are different and I might sound prejudice, but I am not I respect the difference in cultures but when lives are lost because of a custom, maybe that custom needs to be altered.
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Something must be done. It is outrageous that a child should die because it is legal for an older man to marry a 12 year old girl. It seems like Yemen is a place where woman have little to no rights.
ReplyDeleteI agree this article definitely shows that there are some serious problems happening in some countries around the world especially where women have no rights. Girls should definitely not be forced into marriage at the age of 12 and forced them into having intercourse is even worse.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe things like this are still going on... I thought that marrying girls off at 14 (in polygamy) was bad. But 12? I don't understand it. A girl's body at 12 is nowhere near ready for intercourse. What grown man in his right mind would want to marry, let alone sleep with, a little girl?
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