Research Paper on Child Marriages in Yemen, How It Affects Young Brides and How This Can Be Stopped

Child help defines child abuse as an act of omission or commission that poses danger or causes physical and emotional harm on the development of a child. It is a broad concept that encompasses any damage to a child whether physical or emotional, accidental or non accidental. This form of abuse takes many forms from physical, neglect, emotional or sexual. Child abuse may come in different acts but at the end of it all it affects a child. According to the UN (2000) a child is an individual who is below the age of eighteen years and thus child marriage is marriage under eighteen years. This means that an adult who is above this age and marries a child who is below the eighteen years bracket abuses that child. Child marriage is rampant in developing countries: Africa, Middle East and Latin America. This paper focuses on child marriages in the Middle East and specifically in Yemen.

Child marriage has sparked controversy and discussion in both the international and national communities and is seen as a problem that is affecting many young children. This is recognized by both the international community and the human rights activities which have led to developments in the fight against early child marriages. However it has to be noted that child marriage in most occasions refers to marriage where the child party is the girl or the bride. Boy children are safe and are not exposed to such circumstances because of the responsibilities of a family.

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According to Shakdam (2009) fifty two percent of girls in Yemen are married between the ages of fourteen to fifteen years. A report in 2009 by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour showed that twenty five percent of the females in Yemen got married at the age of fifteen years. Another report of December eight 2011 by the Human Rights Watch showed that this is rampant in Yemen and the girls are not protected and there is need for a way out to solve this problem. Yemen is a country which does not have a minimum age of marriage and efforts to pass an anti-child marriage bill were blocked by the Yemen parliament on the basis of shariah law.

Lazarena (2012) states that marriage is happening in many Arab countries and is happening in Yemen at a higher rate compared to all countries of the world. According to the Women’s National Committee most girls are married off at the age of twelve years. Yemen is characterized by traditional leadership and the recent president had ruled the country for thirty tree years until the recent uprising revolts that have been happening in the Middle East ousted him out of power. A study by the Gender Development and Studies Centre in Sana’a in 2008 revealed that more than half of the girls in Yemen are married off before they reach eighteen years old.

Most developing countries in the world have very high rates of early child marriages that occur when the bride is below eighteen years. In many occasions the marriages are forced and the bride is between twelve to eighteen years of age. The husbands in this marriage are normally older and may even be several decades older that the girl or perhaps the near the age of the child’s father.

Girl child marriages in Yemen and most Middle East countries is because women and girls are treated as people who have no voice and rights and are thus not supposed to object the decisions of men. This is the characteristic of a typical patriarchal society that still clings on the old barbaric ways of life. The traditional society demands double standards on women while giving mean a lot of liberty and free will to engage in the activities they want to. For example two children growing up a child and a girl will grow up knowing different aspects of life. For example the girl is treated to a life of seclusion which is called protection from the world, where as the boy child will be given a lot of freedom to explore the world and engage in anything meaningful. This treatment has made women vulnerable at one point in life and they are thus brought on this seclusion life which tends to make them adhere to some of these vulnerabilities that the men impose on them.

Child marriage occurs because of several reasons: social norms and customs, inadequate laws, gender discrimination and poverty. The society is full of norms and customs some of which have no embedded meanings to the situation they serve. Most families marry of young girls when they are still virgins and not exposed to the world of sex. This is said to bring honor to the girl’s family and the family gains through that honor the virginity of their daughter. Also this is a way of bonding between two families that are close to each other. Many families will wan