Yemen: Court terminates 8-year-old girl's marriage

Reuters ^ | April 15, 2008 | Mohamed Sudam,Enai Ersan

[definitelynotaliberal]

The article doesn’t make clear the concept of ‘bride price’. It’s a dowry of sorts, paid to the family of the bride. If the marriage ends, that money must be returned to the husband. That is why most families prefer that the husband just take another wife, up to a max. of 4.

[Hyzenthlay]

From what I remember of my Medieval History class, William Marshal (a very famous and well-respected knight) was married to a girl who was pretty young, but refused to consummate the marriage with her because she was a child, and was later portrayed as being virtuous due to this, so obviously while the Church did perform such marriages (although this was primarily for social reasons that had to do with land and titles and such), it was apparently also frowned upon to have sex with children. In any case, that wasn’t the Dark Ages, but rather somewhere around the high Middle Ages.

[Tamar1973]

In the case of a divorce, the wife gets the money. Since they annulled the marriage, it is as though they were never married so the money has to be returned.

[KittyKares]

What an amazing little girl. She will go far.

[Gondring]

Do you have any sources for that information? I hadn’t run into that statement before.

It has to do with Age of Reason being seven, etc., as I understand it, along with the betrothal rules, etc.

Even under the codified Canon Law in effect from late 12th Century until early 20th Century, there was a clause allowing prepubescent marriages...

From the Corpus Juris Canonici (Canon Law)
DECRETALS OF GREGORY IX
BOOK FOUR
TITLE II: Betrothals of Prepuescents

C.2
Two prepubescents, or a prepubescent and one older, are not to be married, except for the sake of peace.

Pope Nicholas.

Where there is no consent [cf. C. 30 q. 2 c. 1]. (And following:) By the authority of this decree, we strictly prohibit for the future that either or both, who have not arrived at the age determined by the laws or the canons, be joined in marriage; unless there is a very urgent need that the union be tolerated for the sake of peace.

[Gondring]

I’m not quite sure “Dark Ages” is being used appropriately here, but the average age of marriage in medieval Europe was about 16 for women.

To put into context, that same number was 22 in 1860 (a few decades before my ancestor got married on the day she turned 15), and is now 26.

In other words, it's a LOT later now, and while many noblewomen didn't get married until their 20s, that was offset by the 12- and 13-year-old marriages.

Western cultures are very different from the rest of the world and history in terms of the average time between menarche and marriage--in fact, in general, we wait several times as long.

I'm not saying our cultural mores are wrong...I'm just pointing out that they are out of step with history and the rest of the world, and it's important to note that the appropriate age of marriage is culturally defined.

[Stoat]

UPDATE

8-year-old girl's divorce is finalized while a law to prevent early marriage stalls - Yemen Times

8-year-old girl's divorce is finalized while a law to prevent early marriage stalls

By: Hamed Thabet

 

Nojoud reciving gifts in Yemen Times office in Sana’a.

Eight-year-old Nojoud is now safe after an anonymous donor paid her 30-year-old husband to divorce her. Although this chapter of her life has closed, there are many other Yemeni girls who still suffer from early marriage and its consequences. Feminist groups in Yemen are urging the Parliament to legally define a minimum marriage age. However, there is a long way to go before girls like Nojoud can be free from detrimental early marriages.



SANA’A, 16 April — A few months ago, Nojoud was an average 8-year-old girl from a poor family. Then Nojoud’s father decided to marry her off to a man more than three times her age. Overnight, Nojoud became a wife, enduring physical and sexual abuse for two months until she ran away with the help of her uncle and filed a court case against her father and her husband.

On April 15, with support from her lawyer Shatha Mohammed Nasser and Judge Abud Al-Khaleaq Ghowber, Nojoud paid her way out of marriage with YR 100,000 from an anonymous donor in the Emirates and happily became an 8-year-old divorcee.

“This was the first time a girl came to us for a divorce. We are going to do our best to push the parliament to change the marriage law,” said Judge Ghowber.

“I am so happy to be free and I will go back to school and will never think of getting married again," Nojoud said joyfully. "It is a good feeling to be rid of my husband and his bad treatment.”

She said that she felt lucky that she did not have to continue in such a marriage and a live out a life similar to her sisters, who had been married young [though not as young as Nojoud] and have alr

Nojoud with her lawyer in the court.

eady bore children.

“Although Nojoud does not know her real birthday, I believe this day she was born again and it would be apt to celebrate this day as the first day of her new life,” said Nasser.



Early marriage in Yemen:

According to the International Center for Research on Women’s 2007 statistics, Yemen is one of 20 developing countries where early marriage is common. Nearly half of all Yemeni girls are married before the age of 18.

Most women have their first child immediately after their first menstruation cycle and are likely to have a child every 12 months during their reproductive lifespan. Yemen's fertility rate is extremely high, with an average 6.3 children per each woman, and the country also has some of the highest mother and infant mortality rates worldwide.

According to research on early marriage in Yemen from Oxfam and the United Nations Population Fund, there are severe physical consequences that result from early marriage and subsequent early childbirth such as nutritional anemia, post-partum hemorrhages, obstetric fistula (a disorder that affects the bladder and causes leaking of urine or feces), plus mother and infant mortality.

Additionally, many girls like Nojoud develop irreparable psychological complexes from early marriage and the forced sexual encounters that accompany it. Early marriage also contributes to divorce and family problems.<

br>
“I hated nights because they usually meant that my husband would come to my bed. I used to run from him and he would chase me and beat me and do his thing. I pray that my younger sisters do not face the same fate,” said Nojoud. Now the 8-year-old is living with her uncle and his family in relative safety.



A divided society

The Yemeni personal status law stipulates that a girl cannot be wed until she is ready for intercourse, which in essence leaves the judgment up to the girl's parents or guardians.

Judge Ghowber explained that early marriages are usually the fault of the parents. He insisted that there must be increased awareness among Yemeni families in order to avoid these serious mistakes.

A number of Yemeni religious scholars, including some in the Evaluation and Jurisprudence Committee in the Parliament, say that since there is no religious statement defining a minimum age for marriage, then early marriage is perfectly fine if not desirable.

Other scholars and religious authorities, like Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar, the Minister of Endowment, want to create legislation to prevent parents from marrying their girls off at a young age and to prevent religious sheikhs from endorsing such marriages.

“Those who approve of girls marrying at 13, 14 or even below 18, are barbaric men who abuse childhood and are irresponsible,” said religious scholar Yahiya Al-Najar, the former Minister of Endowment.

He explained that there should be a minimum age for boys and girls to marry in order to complete their phys

ical and mental development and so that they can manage the responsibilities of marriage and raising a family.

Al-Hitar said that the minimum age of marriage should be 16-years-old, no less. He added that previous religious bodies in charge of jurisprudence wrote such laws in 1976 and in 1988.

"Those who say that defining a minimum age for marriage is un-Islamic do not understand the religion at all," said Al-Hitar. "Defining a minimum age of marriage is a need dedicated by life’s nature.”

The Yemeni parliament is equally divided between MPs who believe in safe motherhood (and thereby banning early marriage) and those who don’t. Deputy speaker of Parliament, MP Himyar Al-Ahmar, said that he supports the creation of legislation against early marriage, requested by the Women's National Committee, but prefers to forward the issue to the Evaluation and Jurisprudence Committee, which is strongly against such legislation.

Rasheeda Al-Hamadani, chair of the Women's National Committee, promised to continue to raise awareness about the issue by holding workshops soon with religious leaders, MPs and decision makers.

[Marvel451]

Im about 2 months late, but I feel the need to say something. Im surprised more people did not mention the Prophet marrying Aisha at a young age. Im sure the Father considered it before he forced his daughter, with the threat of her being raped and killed, to marry someone. Its not an Islamic problem, its a retarded cultural problem. The same thing happens in Nigera and other African countries but we never hear about it. According to Islamic law, the marriage is invalid. You cannot force a female into marriage in Islam, no matter what her age is. According to a Hadith, the Prophet said “A woman without a husband (or divorced or a widow) must not be married until she is consulted, and a virgin must not be married until her permission is sought”
Sahih Muslim

Even the Quran says “Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will” Quran” 4:19

The Prophet had special reasons for marrying Aisha. He did not do it of his own will. God commanded him to do it. She ended up being the first female scholar of Islam. If we want to stop this from happening again, I suggest that the Yemen government issue punishment for those Fathers who force their daughters to marry as well as those men who accept forced marriages. The punishment should be a public flogging. The 2nd offense should be castration for both males.

[VOA]

“Court terminates 8-year-old girl’s marriage”

So maybe the Islamic World and Yemen is struggling into the
The TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

Stories like this make me happy that I didn’t go into the local bidness
of dealing with Islamic oil-merchants.

[Stoat]

 

“Court terminates 8-year-old girl’s marriage”

So maybe the Islamic World and Yemen is struggling into the
The TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

Stories like this make me happy that I didn’t go into the local bidness
of dealing with Islamic oil-merchants.

There are lots of other ways for a clever person to make a living, and if you are not Muslim you would probably not have been treated well in any sort of business dispute that ended up in court.

The mere fact that we don't hear the entire "Islamic world" rising up en masse and loudly decrying such a practice as allowing a child to be married speaks volumes as to how very far they are from actually entering the 21st century.

[KKing]

Oh ffs!

Not only are you a couple of months late, but you're a few dollars short as well.

God did NOT command this false prophet to do a damn thing. The illiterate fool was nothing more than a gifted manipulator. Even his beloved Aisha called him out when another convenient (and just in the nick of time) message from God allowed him to marry his adopted son's wife.

It is an Islamic problem. You have rabid followers that during breaks of blowing people up or flying planes into buildings, go so far as to visit the dentist to shave their front teeth down in an effort to emulate the false prophet (Big Mo clumsily tripped and broke his front teeth on a rock back in the day) - that my friend, is a serious issue.

Don't pull me any quotes from the supermarket of choices the quran represents, the hadiths and surras are even worse.

Personally, after living among this backward culture for so long, I believe practically any muslim father would allow his preteen daughter to be married off after a special visit from some wahabi or other ‘retarded’ group.

Nice try but I know better.