8-year-old Yemeni girl dies from internal injuries on wedding night

[Democracyinkind]

Source: UPI

HARDH, Yemen, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- An 8-year-old Yemeni girl died from internal injuries on the first night of her marriage to a man more than five times her age, Kuwaiti daily Al Watan reported.

The girl, identified only by the name Rawan, died in Hardh in the governorate of Hajjah in northwestern Yemen, the newspaper reported Sunday.

She died after suffering a tear to her genitals and severe bleeding, Gulf News reported.

Yemeni and Kuwaiti activists have called for police to arrest the girl's husband and family and to put an end to the practice of marrying young girls, Gulf News said.

THREAD UPDATED -- See post #125




Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/09/08/8-year-old-Yemeni-girl-dies-from-internal-injuries-on-wedding-night/UPI-61081378653499/

---

I know I should add something here. I just don't know what to say. I'm horrified - it all sounds like a bad cliché - and yet a girl is dead, and the last couple of days/hours of her life must have been horrible. As was her death. I have seldom felt so disgusted by reading a news story.

[liberal N proud]

1. So much of the world is sick!

8 years old?

Dear GOD!

[kelliekat44]

15. It happens among those who call themselves Christians too in those cults that accuse the government

of interfering in their "religion." We turn a blind eyes to this stuff all the time.

[Mass]

17. Thank you.

[Renew Deal]

19. Maybe you turn a blind eye

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs

[Squinch]

107. But it's still happening. They still follow him, and men are still raping children.

[WCLinolVir]

30. The difference being it's not called marriage.

And the parents generally don't knowingly give their child to a child abuser. And it is considered child abuse.

[Arkansas Granny]

34. Some of them finally get caught, thankfully.

Tony Alamo, Evangelist, Sentenced To 175 Years For Sex Crimes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/13/tony-alamo-evangelist-sen_n_357709.html

[warrant46]

35. Warren Jeffs = Professional Pedophile

Never met a girl under age twelve to whom he wasn't attracted

[FrodosPet]

51. But Jesus was not known to be a pedophile

And I may be missing something, but I have never known it to be encouraged in the Christian church, other than some extreme outliers.

Certain other religious figures are good with it, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisha

‘Ā’ishah bint Abī Bakr (b. 613/614 C.E. – d. 678 C.E.) (Arabic: عائشة‎ transliteration: ‘Ā’ishah, also transcribed as A'ishah, Aisyah, Ayesha, A'isha, Aishat, Aishah, or Aisha) was one of Muḥammad's wives. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين umm al-mu'minīn), per the description of Muhammad's wives in the Qur'an.

Traditional sources state that Aisha was married to Muhammad at the age of six, but she stayed in her parents' home until the age of nine, when the marriage was consummated with Muhammad, then 53, in Medina; with the exception of al-Tabari who records that she was ten years old.

Apparently marrying children is OK in Islam. After all, the primary prophet did it!

[happyslug]

67. But Aisha had no children by Mohammad, and out lived him by several decades

Furthermore it was clear the marriage was a POLITICAL MARRIAGE, she was he daughter of one of his earliest followers (Mohammad's first wife is called his first convert, Ali, his son in law is also an early convert).

Aisha's father later became the second leader of Islam, he was selected as the first Caliph after the death of Mohammad. A lot of politics was involved in that marriage. Sex was a best a minor consideration.

[mbuch64]

100. yeah, yeah

yes we know jesus was not a pedophile. He hung out with mary and she was a pro (and don't get me wrong, I am not here to bash jesus. His teachings are important to us all). But equating pedophilia with islam is just bullshit. child brides existed long before religion.

[leftynyc]

60. Have you read post #49

which states the age of consent in Yemen is 9? That's the LAW there. Don't try and make comparisons to US laws - it'll only make you look foolish. I knew the moral relativists would crawl out from under their rocks for this one.

[snagglepuss]

72. What utter BS. Paedophilia which is what this is is legal in Yemen. What nonMusilm

country has similiar laws.

[golfguru]

112. I can't think of any non-muslim countries

where marriage is legal under age 16. May be some one here knows?

[obama2terms]

114. You're right about that

Just look into the FDLS ( fundamentalist latter day saints) they force young girls into polygamous marriages, and that goes on right here in the U.S. In fact I have a good friend who escaped that nightmare, her family tried to force her to marry at 15 but she ran away in the middle of the night shortly after they told her. I don't know how she made it but she did.

[historylovr]

2. Horrifying and heartbreaking.

[leftynyc]

3. How is her rapist and her family free?

How are they not arrested? Is there really a place in the world this is not illegal, immoral, disgusting?

[YarnAddict]

4. To answer your question,

Is there really a place in the world this is not illegal, immoral, disgusting?

Yes.

[leftynyc]

5. Raping an 8 year old is legal?

Are there going to be people here who seriously want to tell me that this isn't a backwards, uncivilized, revolting society? Are the moral relativists going to defend this?

[Democracyinkind]

8. I can't defend it.

But I believe that the logic behind it being legal (not that I have confirmed this) isn't alien to our discourse - that logic being that you can't rape your wife. Guess what? You can. Guess what - A CHILD CAN NOT BE A WIFE...

(This is not directed against you - I agree with what you wrote.... No argument can ever justify any of this ... I'm still having trouble coming to terms with this... As I wrote... I sounds like a bad cliché... How this can be real, without a massive uproar... I'm flabbergasted and disgusted to the core)

[leftynyc]

10. I'm horrified by this

This isn't the usual "women in Muslim countries are treated badly" stuff (which happens to be true) - this is sick, mentally ill behavior. Being attracted to a child, marrying her and raping her - all being legal and the only voices being raised are those by activists? That's a sick society.

[Democracyinkind]

12. I couldn't agree more. nt

[whathehell]

13. Apparently they lack the concept of "pedophilia".

Then again, the moral relativists mentioned might tell us

that we are being "culturally insensitive".

[wickerwoman]

115. I'm sure they do have a concept of "pedophilia"

when it comes to protecting boys.

The issue here isn't a culture that doesn't recognise that it's wrong to rape young people. The problem is a culture that doesn't recognise women as people in the first place.

[whathehell]

116. Yes, a concept that recognizes it only for young males

as males are the only "people" they recognize in the first place.

Sounds right.

[alphafemale]

126. Young boys are raped as well. They are dressed like girls made to dance and then raped.

Look up the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

Rape of little boys also referenced in The Kite Runner.

[wickerwoman]

127. Looked it up.

"The practice is illegal under Afghan law."

Marrying an eight year old girl and raping her to death in Yemen, not so much.

[Ash_F]

50. It is illegal in Yemen

Barely..see post #49.

[leftynyc]

58. But he's still free

And so are her parents who pimped her out to this animal.

[Ash_F]

62. Yes, but keep in mind that we only know about this story because of local activists.

"Yemeni and Kuwaiti activists have called for police to arrest the girl's husband and family and to put an end to the practice of marrying young girls, Gulf News said.
"

"Moral relativism" is favorite right winged race-baiting catch phrase that doesn't belong on a Democratic site.

[leftynyc]

63. Sorry - I disagree

Just because the right uses a phrase doesn't make it untenable in this situation. I've seen plenty of DUers try and defend this kind of crap by saying the US is just as bad for reasons a, b and c. They try to deflect and say we have no right to be disgusted because we don't understand other societies. When people want to use moral relativism as an excuse, I have every right to call them out on their bullshit.

[Ash_F]

64. Well, I think the locals went to the international media for help..

...to get the attention of the world on the issue, to shame their own government into taking action and to shame their own society away from the right wing ideology of treating women and children as property.

Their intent was probably not for our own right wingers to use this story as ammunition for sly racist propaganda.

[leftynyc]

65. What the US right wing does here doesn't

interest me in the slightest. They'll use any excuse to insult Muslims. That doesn't mean we have to keep our mouths shut and pretend it's not happening and that embarrassment may be enough to change attitudes that think this kind of behavior is normal and should be accepted as a "societal norm". We've been screaming about it for over a decade and it still sucks to be a woman in many Muslim countries.

[Ash_F]

66. Yes, it does.

And people in those countries have been screaming about it for quite a bit longer than a decade. Pretty much since the Western women's rights movement at the turn of the century.

Nobody is telling you to keep your mouth shut and pretend it's not happening.

[leftynyc]

68. So, in over 100 years

where has it gotten them? Why do US (and other western) women have the vote, the right to marry who they want, to have a career, to live alone, to travel alone, to shop alone - what is so different?

[Ash_F]

71. I can tell you what it's not. It's not the DNA.

I think the biggest obstacles have been a lack of stable representative democracy and the proliferation of right wing ideologies which do so well when people are uneducated, in poverty, afraid and under stress.

It doesn't help that some the countries that get the most Western 'intervention' have been the ones where women actually have/had all the rights you listed(Iran, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria). Meanwhile, many of the countries where women don't have these rights, mainly in the Arabian Peninsula(Saudi Arabia, Yemen) get nary a finger wag from our leaders.

[leftynyc]

86. I think it's education

which I've always maintained is the magic bullet for women. Plus religion - seems the less religion, the less problems for women (that goes for all religions).

[kestrel91316]

78. What's different is those countries are run by religious fanatics and the US isn't. YET.

But we're close.

[leftynyc]

87. No - we're not close to that

And our founding document specifically forbids it so I'm not worried about being ruled by the taliban (but I live in NY so it may be different than living in a more religious state).

[kestrel91316]

89. If the dominionists have their way, the Constitution will be repalced by Leviticus.

[leftynyc]

93. First they would have to

throw out the constitution. Do you really see that happening? Really? I'm not talking about the very small percentage of assholes that wouldn't mind that but you do know how hard it is to even amend the constitution, don't you? Is there even one elected official from any state who has stated they wanted to replace the constitution with Leviticus or are we playing magical balance fairy?

[kestrel91316]

103. When they have a majority in power they will make their move.

They don't like to tip their hand, but you can tell who they are by their extreme RW views and fondness for biblical law.

[get the red out]

20. Her family probably threw a party

They obviously offered the groom a virgin to enjoy. They are most likely quite proud.

[leftynyc]

21. Proud their daughter is dead?

I hope other families are taking note of what happens when you serve up your daughters to pedophiles.

[get the red out]

23. Her being a virgin was all that mattered

I'm sure her death was completely beside the point.

[leftynyc]

39. I don't even know what to say to that

I've always felt the most unnatural thing in the world is for a parent to bury their child. That society is beyond damaged - it's evil.

[get the red out]

70. Well

I am being hateful because this kind of story makes me so angry. BUT, it stands to reason that if they will horrifically murder their own daughters for being raped, or sometimes even speaking to a boy, in cultures like this than her life isn't really as important as the price they can get out of her as "unused".

[leftynyc]

99. Ugh

I don't blame you for feeling hateful and would frankly be disgusted at anyone who could read this story dispassionately.

[Marrah_G]

91. Frankly there are cultures out there that son't value children the way most do

We would like to think everyone does, but there are places out there where selling your daughter (or son) to an older man is not looked at as taboo. Make no mistake, it's not "marriage" it is the selling of a child for sex and/or servitude. The lives of these children are never good ones.

[leftynyc]

95. Oh - you'll see in other

posts of mine on this thread that I have no problem calling the parents pimps - that's exactly what they did. May they burn in hell.

[Marrah_G]

98. Oh I know, I didn't mean to suggest you did

This story is just to horrible and there is nothing any of us can do to stop it.

[burnsei sensei]

101. Don't tell the Yemenis that!

In their estimation, with the perfection of their faith and immutability of their culture, they could consider themselves the pinnacle of virtue. If nothing changes, then certainly everything must be perfect.

[WCLinolVir]

31. Maybe the motivation was money.

[get the red out]

69. Probably

Women and girls are nothing but property in a lot of the world. Like selling a car, you wreck it after driving it off the lot, that's on YOU.

[Marrah_G]

92. It usually is

[JustanAngel]

74. Yes.

Yemen, to name one. I have more certainty daily that these nations and their laws are so totally different from ours that we need to just get out of them as quickly as possible, and work on creating the kind of America we want, rather than trying to influence the world positively, while having little positive effect, while neglecting the real needs here in the US, like citizens starving for living wage jobs with benefits. Some struggle with 6 hour part-time jobs. This news article is heartbreaking to me as well; but except in giving to Worldwide Human Rights Campaigns, who may have good effect, I have no solution. I pray.

[Le Taz Hot]

118. Bullshit.

You're talking about 50% of the world's population. If one segment of ANY society is enslaved, we are all in danger of enslavement. Close your eyes if you choose but 50% of the world's population is WAY too big a number to ignore.

So, is that what your religion tells you? Ignore acts of horrific violence, "praying" is enough? Goddess I hate religions! All of them!

[MissDeeds]

6. What that poor child went through

It's amazing this barbarism is still permitted. Why isn't it a 'human rights violation'?

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. The Prophet Muhammad married a six or seven year old.

But he waited until she was nine or ten to consummate the marriage.

[zazen]

11. wow--what commendable self-restraint

[alp227]

25. How do you know the poster is wrong?

http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Wood/pedophile.htm

[Butterbean]

29. I think s/he was sarcastically referring to Muhammad's "self restraint,"

In that he "waited" until his bride was the ripe old age of 10.

[7962]

38. Love how in your link, the defenders say she was REALLY 15

Like that makes it OK. Amazing. We dont have a war on women in the US. These countries are where the REAL wars on women are. There is no comparison. Sick. Yes, we have pedophiles in the US, but even prisoners look down on them and punish them.

[niyad]

55. there is a war on women in this country, and all around the world. all based on patriarchy

and the belief that women are lesser in every way.

[alp227]

73. First World Problems?

Gee, you're sounding like the Randite right winger Thomas Sowell, who wrote:

If you are looking for a real war on women, you might look at the practice of aborting girl babies after an ultrasound picture shows that they are girls. These abortions are the most basic kind of discrimination, and their consequences have already been demonstrated in countries like China and India, where sexually discriminatory abortions and female infanticide have produced an imbalance in the number of adult males and females.

Richard Dawkins pulled off the same sh_t as well:

Dear Muslima

Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and . . . yawn . . . don't tell me yet again, I know you aren't allowed to drive a car, and you can't leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you'll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with.

Only this week I heard of one, she calls herself Skep"chick", and do you know what happened to her? A man in a hotel elevator invited her back to his room for coffee. I am not exaggerating. He really did. He invited her back to his room for coffee. Of course she said no, and of course he didn't lay a finger on her, but even so . . .

[7962]

85. I'm familiar with Sowell, but never heard of dawkins;

actually thought of Richard Dawson, from Family Feud and Hogans heros at first!
But honestly, what Sowell says is true whether you like him or not. The Dawkins fellow, on the other hand, tries to make a similar point but becomes totally disgusting in his feined dismissing of the horrible female circumcisions and other crimes against women.
But to point out how awful it is in other countries doesnt excuse discrimination HERE. And fortunately the vast majority of americans are today disgusted by abusive husbands/fathers. 50 yrs ago, it was swept under the rug. I'll never forget "The Burning Bed" with Farrah Fawcett, based on a true story. Her mom tells her (paraphrasing here) "well, honey thats just something wives have to put up with in a marriage". No. It's NOT.

[Xithras]

76. Yes, that's the real source of the problem.

The problem boils down to the Muslim argument that Muhammad was God's anointed one, meaning that everything he did was approved by God and therefore allowable.

Muhammad's wife Aisha was engaged to him at 6 years old, and tradition says that the marriage was consummated when she was 9. This has been a point of discussion since the earliest days of Islam, and the general justification is this: Godly men must have at least one virgin wife, and consummating a marriage before womanhood is the only way to ensure that your wife hasn't had sex with others.

The real problem comes down to the perception of Islam and Muhammed among its followers. To quote one of the best explanations of I've ever read:

In Islam, the Qur’an is the literal word of God, and Muhammad represents the embodiment of those words of God. If you want to know what Islam is in text, go to the Qur’an; if you want to know what Islam is in action, study Muhammad’s life. That’s what Muslims do. They study it, debate it, and investigate it obsessively. Muslims believe the road to goodness, to moral excellence and success in the afterlife, comes through an emulation of the Prophet.

The prophet had sex with a prepubescent girl, and the faith exalts him as someone to be emulated. While the vast, vast majority of Muslims reject this particular bit of Islam, there's always been a fundamentalist wing that accepts and embraces it. It's not that they're pedophiles or are attracted to prepubescent children, but that they genuinely believe that sleeping with these children puts them closer to heaven.

[backscatter712]

9. The usual excuse: "The Bronze Age book of fairy tales said I could!" n/t

[Roland99]

40. +1

[Arugula Latte]

84. A pox on religion.

It's caused/justified untold suffering for eons.

[burnsei sensei]

102. Bronze Age, c. 3000-c. 1200 BC

Islam postdates the Bronze Age, the development of Judaism and Christianity, by centuries.

[Mass]

14. Horrifying story, but we cannot change the ME to our standard from the outside.

However, we can avoid stories dying stupidly in this country. Another day, another kid killed by a gun left by their stupid parents or relative. This is something we can do something about. And too little is done.

[Democracyinkind]

16. I agree that change can only come from inside those societies.

Which makes it all the more important to give such stories all of the attention that we can get by posting them. Think of Mallala!!

[get the red out]

18. Exactly, negative attention

We need to see the truth of some of these cultures in the world, we need to see it a lot. It is too easy to pretend this kind of horror isn't condoned by anyone, when in fact it is quite legal and accepted in many parts of the world. We need to see this in order to have a perspective of reality on the rest of the world. In our own country, cultural relativity needs to be smacked down hard verbally whenever it raises it's disgusting head.

I believe we should have as little as possible to do with countries where such a culture exists. I neither want to spend money bombing them (which I've been accused of by cultural relativists in the past) nor giving them anything. We should not support mistreatment of women let alone child rape and murder.

And for the DRONE DRONE DRONE response, see above, I don't want to spend the money to bomb these inhuman cultures. They aren't worth the bombs.

[warrant46]

37. Maybe some Cruise missiles will change the morals of the middle east?

</sarcasm>

[Mass]

46. My guess is that some DUers would agree , because they clearly think Islam is evil and we are great.

[warrant46]

54. Chickenhawk teabaggers think that way too

Especially when one sees the comment

Turn their cities into Glass---Etc

[Kelvin Mace]

22. But we never talk about bombing countries for these vile

practices.

I am willing to bet that more little girls die from physical abuse than die from chemical weapons.

But Yemen is a "strategic partner" in the "war on terror" so we can't do anything to "embarrass" them.

[dipsydoodle]

24. Awful

[LeftishBrit]

26. This is utterly disgusting and heartbreaking

Nothing can bring that poor little girl back to life but I hope that her killers are brought to justice.

The Womankind organization is fighting for the rights of girls and women everywhere - and perhaps such organizations can help to prevent future tragedies:

www.womankind.org.uk

[WCLinolVir]

27. Murder. I see little difference between a homicidal pedo and the &quot;husband&quot;.

Well, one has death as the outcome, the other could not care less. Legal pedophilia.

[fasttense]

28. This is a common outcome in societies that allow polygamy

Why pedophilia and child abuse are rampant in societies that allow polygamy is not clear. Maybe it's because to dehumanize woman is to dehumanize other people including children, maybe it's about the abuse of power, maybe it's about making women appear childlike and then children seem to be appropriate sex partners. Who knows? But it is all too common with polygamy.

[Chan790]

47. The reasons are entirely more "rationally" based.

(Note that "reason" is being used loosely here to refer to internally-consistent thinking insulated from the moral objections of outsiders.)

Many of these societies also do not allow remarriage for women.
Humans are born in roughly equal proportion of sex...this is uncommon in most species.

If women cannot remarry and there is a drive of competition for brides in a system where women do not outnumber (or slightly outnumber) men...this motivates men to marry wives young while they're still available; to marry them ever younger to beat the competition. There is almost always a prevalent practice of exile or marginalization of lower-status-or-power rival males in order to shift the balance of males to females as well.

[proverbialwisdom]

32. Criminal. Recent related overview article, two versions.

Original site I read article (no supporting links, never heard of author).

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/06/children-and-women-for-sale/

Same article from Google search (with references, never heard of website).

http://www.eurasiareview.com/05092013-children-and-women-for-sale-trafficking-in-india-oped/

Endnotes

i. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/20/poverty-tea-pickers-india-child-slavery
ii. http://www.refworld.org/docid/4720706c0.html
iii. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/
iv. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20863860
v. http://www.trust.org/item/?map=india-advances-but-many-women-still-trapped-in-dark-ages/
vi. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/satyamev-jayate-aamir-khan-female-foeticide/1/187581.html
vii. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/03/no-girls-to-play-with-at-school-indias-infanticide-crisis/
viii. http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/bonded_labour.aspx
ix. http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/publications/WCMS_203832/lang–en/index.htm
x. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20938125

[Democracyinkind]

33. Thank you. nt

[Marrah_G]

36. Disgusting

I wonder if the groom is going to ask for a refund?

[burnsei sensei]

104. If the girl came with a dowry,

then it's probably her family who will ask for the refund.

[d_b]

41. a great news item to start the day

i need a break from this place

[Democracyinkind]

59. If "this place" refers to a world in which such stuff happens, I'm with you. nt

[gopiscrap]

42. OMG THat's horrible!

[EC]

43. You know I'd even

bet that the "husband" involved is proud that he was too much "man" for his new young "wife". This is so sick.

[Snake Plissken]

44. If this happen in Montana, Judge G. Todd Baugh would have thrown the book at him

and sentenced him to 30 days in prison.

[cleanhippie]

45. Religion makes the world such a better place.

[Plucketeer]

53. Amen!

Hard to imagine what this world would be like without it.

[PCIntern]

48. this stuff just makes me want to puke...

Sick Fucks everywhere...

[Ash_F]

49. Age of consent in Yemen is NINE

http://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k1/mideast/yemen.html

"In 1999, the minimum marriage age of fifteen for women, rarely enforced, was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at the age of nine, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage."

It's insane that it is nine, but they have no excuse to not charge this man. By their own law, he has committed rape. And Yemen has the death penalty for rape.

So I guess we'll see...

[blackspade]

52. WTF?

What fucking idiot thinks that sex with an 8 year old is OK?
The marriage is bad enough, but consummating it?
I understand that cultures vary around the globe, but I don't think that this would even be remotely acceptable to the average Yemeni.
If I was the girl's father, this asshole's skull would be my drinking cup.

[kestrel91316]

80. A fucking idiot does. Literally.

[Marrah_G]

94. Frankly the girl's father was probably well paid for his daughter

He is probably apologizing to the murderer and begging him not to make him refund the payment.

[blackspade]

106. Your probably right.

But, I would have some hope that there would be murderous outrage.

[niyad]

56. there simply are not words enough for this horror. the "practice" of child brides MUST be ended

[freshwest]

81. Remember when the GOP voted down the anti-child bride agreement?

As the issue of child marriage had garnered much attention in previous months, many were surprised that the bill was rejected. It did not take long for the factors contributing to this vote to come to light. Shortly before the vote was to take place, House Republicans had circulated an alert regarding the bill, citing concerns about the costs that would be incurred and, specifically, what the funds would be used for. The alert stated, "There are … concerns that funding will be directed to (nongovernmental organizations) that promote and perform abortion and efforts to combat child marriage could be usurped as a way to overturn pro-life laws." Supporters of the bill from both parties quickly pointed out that the bill included no language whatsoever mentioning abortion or even family planning, but the damage was already done. The plight of child brides was overshadowed by an irrelevant partisan debate about abortion.

However, only two months later the bill was reintroduced. The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2011 is currently awaiting consideration by the House and the Senate. This time around, for the sake of child brides around the world, I hope the bill will be considered without any overshadowing political agendas.

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/No-place-for-partisan-agenda-in-preventing-child-3547115.php

http://www.churris.com/update-in-shameful-act-republicans-kill-bill-to-prevent-child-marriage

I will note from the last link, that Cantor was one of those leading the opposition to it, and he will likely take Boehner's place when he leaves in 2014. So as much fun as we've had with Cheetos, the next speaker will be immeasurably worse in terms of human rights and outright corruption.

But the 2011 act was finally passed in 2012:

http://www.girlup.org/learn/child-marriage.html

I posted a video on a story of a successful escape from forced marriage, but it was shut down by an uproar and repeated threats of being hidden so I altered it to go back to this story in 2010 above.

Instead of the video of the young girl who spoke on camera of how she would be denied her education and future and was being wronged, in a very passionate manner. It was really moving and I felt it was a testament to the human spirit.

That is the original video which is still under the edits, but was objected to being posted. The reasons given for why the OP had to be deleted were that it was religious bigotry or Israeli propaganda.

I did not delete the OP but edited to put the video behind a new one, and the accusing poster declared his victory on the thread.

However, someone who had seen the video and said it was true, giving examples such as this, possibly the same story:

osman

24. re: Nada Al-Ahdal

I wrote an article on this and also included a photo from a NatGeo magazine section that talked about forced child marriages. If you see the photo you will be shocked, grown men pictured standing as husbands with 11, 12, 13 year old girls.

http://techlivewire.com/2013/07/21/11-year-old-yemeni-girl-nada-al-ahdal-run-away-video-goes-viral/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017133398#post24

That was osman's first post and he has not been back after verifying that. The thread turned ugly fast and my intent in posting was getting lost. It was to show the growing awareness of the suffering of these girls and the loss to humanity, and that a change might be coming.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017133398

I saw the story of the murder of a woman in Afghanistan for writing a book, hauled out of her house and shot by local radicals and have not posted it as it was said to be religious so I'm not going there again.

Another news item on how laws in Afghanistan have just changed so that it will be impossible to bring those who commit crimes against women and girls there to justice, period.

[niyad]

110. thank you for reminding me just how sick this country is, as well. and thank you reminding me

about those depressing and disgusting stories. no war on women??????

[freshwest]

113. It is consistent almost everywhere - women and children come far behind religion and power.

How easily they are tossed aside for the 'important' things here and elsewhere.

[leftynyc]

119. You should have left the video

stand. There was one poster who bellowed about the source (as if that changed the story) and you allowed them to bully you into taking it down. Don't let anyone bully you about anything - it's a very important topic and if someone doesn't like the source, it's their problem, not yours. Remember, it was only one very vocal poster who complained - everyone else seemed to stick to what the video showed and was disgusted by it. You did a very admirable job.

[yurbud]

57. The question is how what "intervention" will help this. Education and economic opportunity might hel

help.

If families aren't so poor, they might not see marrying off daughters at a young age a smart move economically not only for the family but for the girl.

Killing more Yemenis with cruise missiles and drones will likely keep them lower on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and thinking about bare survival, which this is a manifestation of.

[Duer 157099]

61. Let's bomb Yemen

This is as bad as chemical weapons imho.

[felix_numinous]

75. Rec

I have no words just presence.

[kestrel91316]

77. In this country he'd go to prison for life or even get the death penalty for

raping and murdering that little girl.

If the dominionists ever take control, of course, this sort of thing will go on here too. The bible says it's ok.

[FrodosPet]

88. Like in Luke 17:2?

"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

[kestrel91316]

90. Dominionists want Leviticus to be the law of the land. They aren't much interested in

what Jesus had to say unless it fits their bloodthirsty agenda.

[burnsei sensei]

105. And these are no different from the Islamists

who demand worldwide Sharia.
Fundamentalist religion makes humans into rabid dogs.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. Fetishizing female virginity is common to the Abrahamic religions.

"If you have sex before marriage, you're a filthy slut and must be punished, because even if you're in love, you're a worthless whore."

Yep, the Christians push this horribly damaging shame and guilt trip on young girls. I believed it because I was not told anything different, although my folks were not terribly religious. Mom sneered with vague threats about "BAD THINGS happen to girls that are BOY CRAZY".

We saw a movie when I was in high school about 1970 that had Ann Landers giving dating advice "Do anything on a date, except kiss and make out! Because boys can't control themselves. Boys only want ONE THING and when they get it they will throw you away and you will be worthless."

Ann Landers was Jewish and she was just as bad as the Christians at fetishizing virginity and fetishizing a piece of paper, a marriage certificate. They think a marriage certificate will make your spouse love you and respect you and CHANGE someone into a caring person.
It's not that simple.

I've been married to two men who did not love me, respect me or honor me, and I had absolutely no choice but to divorce them. I took the contract seriously and they didn't.

Abrahamic people who fetishize virginity, and in this case, kill by statutory rape, live in a fantasy world.

There's one horrible POS who goes to singles groups at large mainstream churches and tells the single people that GAWD HATES IT if you do it without a state-issued screwing license. His name is Harold Ivan Smith. He makes money off this mindfucking crap. Sells books.

And where I live, these angry white folks with guns (I ain't gonna use the word "redneck" cuz I get my hand slapped) are raising grandchildren, because they don't deal with reality.

The daughters got no sex education, because talking or thinking about sex is BAD, and you don't tell them about contraception and how to protect from unwanted pregnancy, because then they'll be a slut; and then you tell them that abortion is against your religion, and the girl will burn in hell. So then she has the baby and you grumble because you have to raise a grandchild that has ruined your daughter's educational prospects.

All because you refused to deal with reality: Teenagers are horny.
Thus it ever was.

I suffered terribly from guilt and shame because I believed this bullshit.

[Jamastiene]

97. That about sums it up...

That is exactly what it is like living in the Bible Belt. You summed it up perfectly. That is EXACTLY how they think and act.

[Myrina]

82. Reprehensible bastard better not EVER get a 'new wife'.

I am reminded of the story from a couple weeks ago about a father who killed a man who was raping his 5 year old daughter & wonder how a parent some place else can allow an 8 year old to be 'married'??


That poor child.

[Marrah_G]

96. He probably already bought a new one.

[SunSeeker]

83. Why is her torturer/rapist/murderer and "family" still free? This is sickening. nt

[alfredo]

108. At least some countries wait until the girl is circumcised before marrying them off.

In Ethiopia 12 year old girls were subjected to such barbaric acts by priests. When the Marxist took power, they ended this brutal religious ceremony. It is still practiced anyway.

[heaven05]

109. sick culture

sad outcome.

[tblue]

111. Cut off his thing!

I work with 4-7 year olds. They're TINY. This poor girl can't be much bigger. I cannot imagine what kind of monster needed to tear up a little girl's body--so he could get off?! Really? Cut it off. Cut it all off and see how he likes having his organs mutilated.

[spicegal]

117. 8 years old!!! That is criminal and sick. What kind of society/culture allows that to happen to a

child?

[Alamuti Lotus]

120. Sorry to disturb the orgy of half-revulsion/half-open bigotry, but this is now reported to be UNTRUE

[mockmonkey]

121. link?

[burnsei sensei]

123. It is not bigoted to express revulsion when one hears of an evil deed.

It is not bigoted to despise injustice.
If anything, it is wrong to tolerate evil.
One may smile and smile and smile and still be a villain.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

122. It is plain.....

.....pedo crazy.

[bobGandolf]

124. So sad!

Nothing else to say...

[Democracyinkind]

125. UPDATE

By Brittany Greenquist, RYOT News
UPDATE: According to Gulf News, the story of the death of the 8-year-old Yemeni bride is false. Mosleh Al Azzani, director of Criminal Investigation in the district the marriage was thought to have taken place, told Gulf News that he personally investigated the family, as well as they young girl named Rawan.

“When I heard the rumors, I called the girl’s father. he came with his daughter and denied the marriage and death of his daughter. I have the photos of the girl and will show it to anyone.”

However, the journalist who originally reported stands by his accounts.

http://www.ryot.org/8-year-old-bride-dies-wedding-night-injuries-yemen/361277

----------------

It does seem that the story didn't happen at all. There was no reason to question the original report (though it was lacking even the most basic details of what happened) because there were several similar stories from Yemen over the last couple of years, such as the following from 2010:

http://reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63752Z20100408?irpc=932

I guess we have to wait until the press reports on what the unnamed journalist has to say that goes further than "standing with the story".

[Brigid]

128. Gulf News? Really?

They would have no reason to lie or try to cover this up.

It would not exactly be difficult to display a photo of Rawan before her "marriage," or a photo of another girl and claim it is of Rawan, or even trot out another girl and claim she us Rawan. Nobody is going to admit their role in this tragedy, I can promise you that.

[Comrade Grumpy]

129. Do you have anything more than skepticism?

The story seems to have been debunked. Can you provide any evidence it is actually true?

[Brigid]

130. Let's just say I'm still not entirely convinced.

There are plenty of reasons to cover this PR disaster up, and ways to do it. The phenomenon of child brides is a sad fact. And there is a reason why the original journalist is sticking to his story.I hope it isn't true, and the journalist is wrong, but I'm not convinced.

[Democracyinkind]

132. I agree. I'm waiting for the original "journalist" to respond.

But at this point I haven't seen anyone confirming from where the story came. The statement by the local police chief seems credible, unless he is part of the "cover up" that you speculated about".

I guess at this point there's really not much else to do than to wait for further details.

[Democracyinkind]

131. I see no reason to doubt that they spoke to the local police chief.

Gulf News or not.