Yemeni child bride dies of internal bleeding

[Eldritch]

A 12-year-old Yemeni bride died of internal bleeding following intercourse three days after she was married off to an older man, the United Nations Children's Fund said.

The girl was married to a man at least twice her age, said Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Her death is "a painful reminder of the risks girls face when they are married too soon," Kaag said Thursday.

Amal Basha, chairwoman of the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights, a Yemeni human rights group, identified the girl Friday as Elham Mahdi.

"Elham was married on March 29th and died three days later" and lived in Yemen's Hajjah province, Basha said.

The girl's death is the latest in a series of child marriage cases in Yemen, where the minimum age to tie the knot is still under debate.

Frustrated by the recent revelation, a Yemeni government official called the case "a stark reminder that the practice of underage marriage must come to an end."

"The government has been working tirelessly to cement the minimum marriage age but conservative parliamentarians have stood against it," said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the media. "Members of the conservative block need to step up to the responsibility of protecting the rights and freedoms of the young. NGOs must continue campaigning to shed the light on this unfortunate practice."

In September, a 12-year-old Yemeni girl forced into marriage died during childbirth. Her baby also died, according to the Seyaj Organization for the Protection of Children.

Fawziya Ammodi was in labor for three days before she died of severe bleeding, said Ahmed al-Qureshi, president of the organization.

"Although the cause of her death was lack of medical care, the real case was the lack of education in Yemen and the fact that child marriages keep happening," al-Qureshi said.

Child brides are common in Yemen, where the United Nations estimates that one in three girls are married before age 18. Most are married off to older men with more than one wife, according to a study by Sanaa University.

For the girl's parents, marriage means the daughters are no longer a financial or moral burden. Most times, parents get a promise from the husband to wait until the girl is older to consummate the marriage.

"Early marriage places girls at increased risk of dropping out of school, being exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation, and even losing their lives from pregnancy, childbirth and other complications," UNICEF said.

The issue of Yemeni child brides made headlines in 2008 when 10-year-old Nujood Ali was pulled out of school and married. Her husband beat and raped her within weeks of the ceremony.

To escape, Nujood hailed a taxi -- the first time in her life -- to get to the central courthouse where she sat on a bench and demanded to see a judge.

After a well-publicized trial, she was granted a divorce.

Link.

[Cato]

What a hideous practice. Please excuse me while I go vomit in the gutter.

[lei.talk]

http://ads.gmodules.com/gadgets/ifr?...ktarget_new_=0

[Arrow Cross]

As far as I understand, most of the Arab world considers such customs in Yemen and Saudi Arabia repulsive and regressive as well.

[John in Denver]

Let the families deal with it, its their problem not the "world", if they're stupid enough to allow it to happen then they deserve the consequences.

The "United" global entities will only exploit the issue to their political advantage. The United 'Racketeers' care for that twelve year old girl as much as a municipal government in America cares about American children being vaccinated, indoctrinated and destroyed through marxism.

[Farah]

It's tragic such inhuman practices still exist mainly in Saudi Arabia and Yemen although even a large portion Saudis and Yemenis are rejecting this now. Child marriages are actually a taboo in other Middle Eastern states, and when they are conducted, it is usually the very poor, conservative classes that do so because they believe a female would be a financial burden on the family as she cannot learn or work, so giving her away at a young age would give her a 'good life' and support her financially while reducing the burden on her poor family. In the case of Yemen, only 35% of Yemeni females are literate. Their culture is very rigid and inflexible, it does not encourage females obtaining education, so this ancient practice of marrying off young girls [which was *once* in ancient times accepted] is still alive, unfortunately.

[Pallantides]

It's disgusting, but these sort of practices was also common in Europe in the old days.

[Tony]

It's disgusting,

It's misopedia* legalized , plain and simple.

but these sort of practices was also common in Europe in the old days.

I doubt it , here we have people , both males and females , who try to legitimize their perversity with what Mohammed did (marrying and making sex to Aisha , a 9 year old) , they openly say that "if Mohammed did it then it's right" , go and make a search on line about this case in Yemen.

In Europe we were used to marry very early since at that time the median age were pretty low , a 30 yo woman were almost considered an elder...
people had babies way earlier than us moderns and they used to die earlier than us as well.

These 2 things can't be compared in my view.

* I've just invented this new term because I got bored of paedophilia , philia means "love for" , these people feel no love for children so I choose to use from now on misopedia , that is hatred for children.