An
eight year old bride identified as Rawan, died in Hardh in the
governorate of Hajjah in northwestern Yemen, from internal injuries on
her wedding night, bleeding to death after deep vaginal tearing caused
by sex with her 40 year old husband, according to a report issued
by UPI on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Activists
in the region are fighting for forced child marriage to be banned, and
they have called for police to arrest the girl's husband and family.
The issue of forced marriage of child brides is a socially accepted custom and is widespread in many rural areas in Yemen.
A
February 2009 law set the minimum age for marriage at 17, but it was
repealed after some conservative lawmakers called it un-Islamic.
In
particular, a prominent Islamic cleric, Abdulmajeed al-Zindani, issued
a fatwa in support of the practice, declaring supporters of a ban on
child brides to be apostates, and ultimately leading a successful
campaign against legislation that would prevent adult men from marrying
children.
Legislators have been looking at ways to curb the practice and they have so far been unsuccessful. Currently
the law states that parents should decide when a daughter marries.
Unfortunately, reports indicate more than a quarter of Yemen’s females
marry before age 15.
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