Sexism in All Shapes and Forms – Yemen Edition
April 15th, 2008 by SocProf and tagged Gender, Health, Human Rights, Patriarchy, Religious Fundamentalism, Sexism
A happy ending to be sure but what this story says about Yemen is truly disgusting. This type of institutional arrangement has no place in the 21st century, so here goes, via the AFP:
“A Yemeni court on Tuesday granted a divorce to an eight-year-old girl whose unemployed father forced her into an arranged marriage this year, saying he feared she might be kidnapped. “I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school,” Nojud Mohammed Ali said, after a public hearing in Sanaa’s court of first instance. Her former husband, 28-year-old Faez Ali Thameur, said he married the child “with her consent and that of her parents” but that he did not object to her divorce petition. In response to a question from Judge Mohammed al-Qadhi, he acknowledged that the “marriage was consummated, but I did not beat her.”"
Well, I guess it’s not so bad then.
There is no law in Yemen to regulate the age of marriage. The girl had to sign a marriage contract and was supposed to live with her parents until she was 18 but soon after, her parents made her go live with her husband.
“Nojud’s father, Mohammad Ali Al-Ahdal, said he had felt obliged to marry off his daughter, an act he claims she consented to. He said he was frightened after his oldest daughter had been kidnapped several years ago and later married to her abductor. He said the same man then kidnapped another of his daughters who was already married and had four children, resulting in him being jailed.”
The girl will now live with relatives because she does not want to see her father. Besides, what would stop him from marrying her again? Jonathan Turley summarizes the main, yet ignored, issue here:
“The real problem is would seem is a legal system that treats girls and women like chattel and has a high tolerance for rape. This is only the latest scandal involving the rape or abusive punishment of females by courts in the Middle East. (…) Whatever the father’s motivation, a court calmly granted a divorce without a word about the obvious act of rape of a child. This is clearly not simply a case of a legal system that lacks basic concepts of human rights for girls and women. It is an obvious cultural problem for this country where adults can stand around discussing a divorce and ignore the rapist in the courtroom.”
Of course, the issue of Child brides is broader than Yemen. The extent and consequences of such practices has highlighted by such excellent programs as Daughters for Sale, and Child Brides – Stolen Lives (part of PBS’s Now series, available on cheap DVDs too).
Posted in Education, Gender, Human Rights, Patriarchy, Religious Fundamentalism, Sexism, Social Inequalities | 4 Comments »
April 15th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I remember being assigned to study Yemen in 8th grade social studies. All I can remember of that experience is making a salt/flour map of the country.
However, having spent a fair amount of time in the Persian Gulf / Arabian Peninsula region as a US Navy, I now know a little bit more about the region. (The USS Cole incident has also cemented the nation forever into my consciousness.)
All I can say of my experience in the middle east is that I am glad my daughter was not born there.
I pride myself on being open-minded and tolerant of other people’s cultures. I think my Navy experience really started me down the path of thinking globally. But for the life of me, I cannot understand that part of the world and it’s mindset.
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April 15th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Billgx,
open-mindedness and tolerance doesn’t mean toleration of such blatant exploitation. No culture or tradition should get a free pass on treating girls like that.
Yemen has long been on the map of countries friendly to religious extremists (including Bin Laden, if I remember correctly).
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December 18th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
All cultures have different beliefs i suppose but some of them seem so wrong
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December 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Different beliefs is one thing, downright oppression and exploitation is another. Nothing justifies that.
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