Teenage Bangla girls thwart child marriage

[struggle4progress]

Source: Gulf Times

Published: Saturday, 14 July, 2007, 01:41 AM Doha Time

DHAKA: ~snip~

Around 50 girls, students of Class 8 of the Abdul Karim Girls’ School <in Satkhira, Bangladesh> surprised the townspeople by taking to the streets and filing a complaint with the police, the Daily Star reported Friday.

Habiba Sultana, 13, dared not oppose her marriage to a neighbour 10 years her senior, who her father Siddique Sana, hard-pressed for money, had chosen.

But when she confided in some of her friends .... the girls prepared a petition and submitted it to the officer in charge of the Sadar Police Station.

Satkhira police chief Mirza Abdullahel Baki hurriedly summoned Sana and asked him to stop his minor daughter’s marriage. Habiba’s father then had to sign a bond that he would not marry off his daughter until she became an adult. ~snip~



Read more: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=160739&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24

[MADem]

1. Union YES!!!

Seriously, good for those young ladies. And shame on Paw, there. What a fucking pig bastard. How could any real man do that to their beloved daughter? If he needs money, the lazy asshole should get himself a part time job. Bum.

[struggle4progress]

2. The world may really need more teen-aged girls with attitude

[zehnkatzen]

3. Good for them...

What else can I say.

What sort of sane, healthy culture encourages such abuse of women? Forcing children to marry is just wrong and shouldn't be the subject of a debate anywhere.

[pnwmom]

5. Absolutely. But we've got some similar cultures in Utah, Arizona, Texas, etc.

where fundamentalists in polygamous communities force early marriage on young girls.

When are we going to do something about that?

[zehnkatzen]

6. As soon as we start...

...rating decent human conduct above the apparent inviolability of any religion against criticism, regardless of how risible, destructive, or abusive it is.

I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.

Unless you use a controlled substance as a sacrament, anything you do in the name of faith is hands off around here until someone dies or is substantially harmed. And sometimes, not even then.

[pnwmom]

7. I'm afraid that you're right, especially when children are involved.

Welcome to DU, zehnkatzen!

[Vidar]

9. Excellent point.

[DBoon]

13. The ghost of Waco

The right wing is still treating those psychotics as fallen martyrs.

Fat chance any government agency would even try to move against another cult.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

18. Oh yeah, you can deny your child life-saving medical treatment

Or beat and starve them and have a good chance of getting away with it, so long as it's part of your "faith".

James Dobson instructs fathers to show their penises to their sons. There are Chastity Balls going on all over the country, where young girls dance with their fathers and pledge to keep their virginity until Daddy gives them to their new owner uh, I mean, husband. Can you say ick? :puke:

[donsu]

16. kick

nt

[PaulaFarrell]

11. Not knowing anything of the family's circumstances

you have no idea whether he is 'lazy asshole' or not, or how many hours a day he currently works. About 50% of people in Bangladesh live below the poverty line. Per capita income is about $350 per year. Garment industry workers work 7 days a week, legally 10 hours a day but in reality often 14-16. Instead of attacking someone you know nothing about, why not attack a world economic system that causes money to even enter into equation?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. But note that they never sell their sons

Selling daughters to settle debts goes hand in hand with low status of women. It was common in China and Japan in times past, with the girls ending up as iether housemaids or prostitutes.

[MADem]

21. Thank you for pointing that out. I found that mitigating argument appalling. NT

[MADem]

20. Here's what I KNOW. There's no moral relativism when it comes to CHILDREN.

None at all. EVER. And I will not be 'scolded' by the likes of you on this issue.

You aren't going to fix a "world economic system" in a day. If that's how we solved these issues, well, a lot of young girls would be raped by perverts in forced marriages while your little plan goes into action. And that is simply unacceptable.

There is NO excuse for a parent to sell his child. NONE. No factor in mitigation, no "economic issues" --no NUTHIN', He should sell his fucking KIDNEY first. Better to take the child from school and set her to work weaving or sewing than be forced to marry some fetid old pervert so he can eat for a few months.

And you seem to miss the fact that the child was IN SCHOOL--thus, the man's circumstances weren't so dire that education for his girl children had become unaffordable. Books, uniforms, they all cost money. Just not having the child home to work about the house is an "expense" of sorts.

Thank heavens her classmates weren't as "forgiving" of the "poor father" as you seem to be.

Sorry--we're not on the same page at all. And we never will be. You are MITIGATING slavery and rape with an economic argument. It's really quite sickening.

[Hekate]

4. It's traditional marriage, as Publicans would say.However,education for girls CHANGES things.

It's also remarkable that the girls found a sympathetic ear and support from the local police -- that's not always the case, regardless of laws on the books.

This is a great story.

Hekate

[donsu]

17. that's why men the world over don't want girls to be educated

nt

[aquart]

8. Hopefully, the neighborhood men won't kill them for it.

[uhhuh]

10. I Certainly Hope Not

It takes a lot of guts to stand against traditions when you feel you or others are being harmed by them. There is no way to know what will happen. I applaud these young women to go to such lengths, and potentially take a huge risk to help a friend, and I hope they don't suffer any repercussions from this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Heh - I read that as 'Teenage *Bangra* girls thwart child marriage' ...

and instantly thought of this - dance saves the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDgmlq6DOyw

[LeftishBrit]

14. Good for them!

I agree with those who pointed out that world economic policies may have made some of the parents desperate, rather than their just being 'scumbags'. However, the problem also reflects longstanding traditions that oppress girls. Not confined to Bangladesh by any means: most societies have had such traditions, but some have been forced to break with them by now. And education of girls is one of the most powerful forces for progress in these matters.

[roody]

15. Good work, girls!