Vote on Child Marriage in Yemen Delayed Indefinitely

Facing the Yemeni Parliament is a bill that would raise the minimum marriage age of the country's young women to 17. But after a dispute over an election law that was set to be voted on prior to the child marriage ban, no vote was taken or set for the future. Child marriage, a phenomenon that threatens the safety and freedom of the country's youngest, is now on the back burner.

The child marriage ban was first passed in 2009, but Yemen's conservative groups claimed that the law violated Sharia, Islamic law which governs much of Yemen. Under Sharia, there is no minimum age for marriage. Because of certain parliamentary maneuvers and pressure from the conservatives, the bill was never signed into law. And perhaps most shocking, or at least frustrating for human rights advocates in Yemen and abroad, is the fact that at least 100 prominent religious clerics have said the law is "un-Islamic."

An example of the empowerment this law could bring is found in the story of young Nujood, a ten-year-old girl  who successfully filed for divorce from her husband earlier this year. She is one of the lucky few — though after living through a nightmare — that escaped the confines of forced marriage not long after. But thousands of young girls in Yemen and other heavily devout countries aren't so lucky. And now that the country's government has set this issue aside, to the satisfaction of many religious clerics, more are likely to be forced into similar marriages that violate their freedom to be children and strip them of their innocence.

Though a number of parliamentarians stated that they hoped the vote would take place later in the week, there have been no reports that a new date was set. It's likely that this bill will not be voted on again for quite some time. Before the United States Congress, though, are bills that would urge our government to protect the rights of young girls around the world whose governments don't have the means to help them, and you can urge Congress to take action.

We can hope that with increasing pressure from the international community, Yemen's government will soon realize the urgency in passing this bill and raising the minimum age for marriage to allow these young girls the freedom to be just that — girls.

Photo credit: Ai@ce