Marriage customs in Yemen seem to be rather unusual. Evidently, marriage is not a union between man and woman in this poorest of the world's nations. Instead, it is a business transaction between men-- a form of slavery and child abuse where perverted potential husbands with a preference for sex with very young girls buy them from their fathers, like sheep or goats and then proceed to rape, beat and torture them.According to a study done by the University of Saana in Yemen, over half of Yemeni brides are under fifteen years old. Many are no more than eleven or twelve years old.
If I sound angry about this, it is because I am. My stomach churns at the idea of a mature man raping a child and I do not understand how this can possibly be acceptable in any civilized society. but evidently it is the norm in some places, including Yemen.
According to Voice of America's News Service, legislation setting a minimum age for marriage at seventeen has been languishing in the country's parliament for over a year, blocked by several influential sheiks who contend that the proposed legislation violates Islamic law. Huh? Islamic law protects child molesters? What kind of law is that? Certainly such exploitation cannot be the will of God.
To sexualize such a young girl is to emotionally and spiritually cripple a young human being and destroy her potential forever. In addition, when girls become pregnant at eleven or twelve, their chances of dying in childbirth or delivering a stillborn are double those of a woman in her twenties. Moreover, it is next to impossible for a girl who is still a child herself to be an effective mother.
Click here to read a heart rending account of a Yemini child bride who sought and was granted a divorce from her 30 year old husband. You'll see why I am so angry.
I have a message for Yemeni men who want to buy themselves a ten year old girl. Buy a sheep or a camel instead. Leave the little girls alone and let them grow up to be real women and good wives for real men, not perverted jerks like you.
