Girl, 8, granted divorce in Yemen

[rpannier]

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- A Yemeni judge dissolved the marriage of an 8-year-old girl to a man nearly four times her age, and the girl's lawyer said Wednesday that the court also ordered the youngster removed from the control of the father who forced her into the wedding.

The lawyer, Shatha Ali Nasser, said the girl is just one of thousands of underaged girls who have been forced into marriages in this poor tribal country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

The girl's story has drawn headlines in Yemen because she took the unusual step of seeking out a judge on her own to file for divorce.

snip

The girl said her father forced her to marry a 30-year-old man she identified as Faiz Ali Thamer. She charged that her husband constantly beat her and forced her to have sex.

snip

A provision in Yemeni law allows parents to sign marriage contracts for children younger than 15. However, the article states that a husband can only consummate the marriage when the wife reaches puberty.


link:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/17/yemen.child.ap/index.html

[seabeyond]

1. as some of the men on this board would say.... thats o.k. girls dont need to have voice

or is she woman seeing how it is all in perspective

[fasttense]

2. And the parents had to pay the child rapist??????

"There are no provisions for any punishment for a husband in such cases...

She said that when she told her parents of the abuse, they refused to help her. Her parents testified they ignored her complaints about the marriage.

The girl's family was ordered to pay $250 as "compensation" to Thamer, although the judge did not specify the reason."

There's justice for you. Thamer, after raping and beating an 8 year old, gets compensated for the loss of his victim.

I bet the Mormon polygamists in Texas have a lot in common with Thamer.

[seabeyond]

3. they are only female. more important the rapist rights... as the 250

explains, are much more vital than an 8 year old treated as property and less than human.

[knitter4democracy]

4. What kind of a b.s. law is that?

A guy can marry a child but not have sex with her until puberty? How the hell do you enforce that? That's a b.s. law. If a guy marries a child, he will rape her. Period. Why else marry an 8 year old unless you're a pedophile?

[Yupster]

5. That comes right from the Prophet

Muhammed had a very young wife but didn't consummate it until puberty.

If the Prophet did it, it cannot of course be wrong.

[seabeyond]

6. then we will just implement slavery again. it is endorsed in the old testament. n/t

[knitter4democracy]

7. And they say I'm crazy for believing in a virgin birth.

Why else would a man marry an 8 year old? If he does it for property or financial reasons, as women were basically cattle in marriage laws until recently, why have her in his house at all? He can go through the ceremony and then have her live with her parents until she's of age. Oh wait, but what if she picks another man to sleep with before that? Nope, gotta have that 8 year old under your roof so you can teach her who's boss.

Disgusting, frankly.