In another shocking story from CNN.com, a 12 year old child is now dead due to internal bleeding caused by intercourse with her "husband". The girl is from Yemen, where the age a child can be married off to an older man is often an accepted practice. Another 12 year old bride died in September during childbirth. Reasons given for the marriage of such young girls included release of financial or moral responsibility. Another very young bride, a 10 year old named Nujood, endured rape and beating from her "husband" before escaping to a court house where she demanded and was later granted a divorce. Yemeni officials are lobbying to have the minimum age of marriage raised.
I am yet again disgusted that such young girls are forced into these dealings. It automatically makes me think of my nieces and little sister as being "wives" at their tender young ages and it is almost too much to bear. I am also saddened that the parents of these young girls would rather have them married off than give them the opportunity to have a real childhood and mature before subjecting them to the bonds of marriage.
This story makes me think differently of the world as a whole. There truly is no equality in the world, and that fact is very disheartening. If there were, then women would be able to have the rights that men have. You do not often hear of boys being married off at such a young age. Or better yet, everyone would be able to marry for love, or at least marry the person they want to rather than the one they are forced to. My views did not change after reading this article. I still think it is very sad and I'm sure the families of the two girls would rather have them at home tonight safe in their beds, than in a grave. It is just such a shame that they couldn't see what a colossal mistake they were making at the time.
I know this blog is full of my opinions, but it is so hard not to get upset when you hear about nonsensical deaths of innocent children. Those girls didn't ask for this and they didn't deserve what they got.
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Disgusting, this wasn't marriage it was nothing more than rape. How can a 12 year old consent to any sexual encounter? Obviously she wasn't ready considering she died from it. Unfortunately some parents aren't parents at all and don't care about the welfare of their children. A child is dead because of this practice, it should be banned everywhere.
ReplyDeleteChildren should be protected not sold off to husbands while young enough to be in elementary school. No real man would ever want to sleep with a baby instead of a woman. No child deserves this, it is very sad.