Thousands of women demonstrated outside parliament Sunday to oppose legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17. The protesters held up banners proclaiming “don’t ban what Allah made permissible,” or “stop violating Islamic sharia law in the name of rights and freedoms.” Proposed amendments to the civil status law stalled in parliament last August after severe opposition to a government proposal that would ban girls under 17 and males under 18 from marrying. Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas, where girls as young as eight have been married off.
via “Stop violating Islamic sharia in the name of rights and freedoms!”.
I don’t think Nojoud thinks (1, 2, 3) the same as these women.
From Yemen Times:
According to the International Center for Research on Women’s 2007 statistics, Yemen is one of 20 developing countries where early marriage is common. Nearly half of all Yemeni girls are married before the age of 18.
Most women have their first child immediately after their first menstruation cycle and are likely to have a child every 12 months during their reproductive lifespan. Yemen’s fertility rate is extremely high, with an average 6.3 children per each woman, and the country also has some of the highest mother and infant mortality rates worldwide.
According to research on early marriage in Yemen from Oxfam and the United Nations Population Fund, there are severe physical consequences that result from early marriage and subsequent early childbirth such as nutritional anemia, post-partum hemorrhages, obstetric fistula (a disorder that affects the bladder and causes leaking of urine or feces), plus mother and infant mortality.
Are these protestors aware about what they are really supporting?
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That really leaves me shaking my head in disbelief. Are these women so dumb enough to go out and protest against a ban that would have saved many girls from having to throw away their futures? When they went out to put a stop against the ban on child marriages, they are being stupid enough to still say and think that it is okay to see their daughters and granddaughters end up losing their futures and be subjected to abuse from their older husbands who don’t even love and respect them.