An online Lebanese journal reported an increasing number of young girls being married off, especially in smaller Lebanese villages and among Palestinian refugee groups. The journal cited the current global economy and violence as causes for this unsettling trend. According to Lebanese law, a child is defined as any person under the age of 18 and it is unlawful for them to be married (in accordance with the 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child). However, this is apparently a mute point because religious courts, that are in charge of marriages, divorces and inheritance, grant families the right to give their daughters away in marriage. Several NGO's are working in Beirut and Lebanon on the whole to reform this trend, citing concern for lowered maternal age, the health of babies born to younger women (or girls), the decreased chance that married girls will return to school, and the overall mental and emotional well being of the children involved.
The more I research this subject, the more I hear about religious courts, they're like a loophole for some governments. They can say their official stance is so-and-so but not have to actually change any behavior and let the religious courts deal with it, and heaven forbid anyone say a religion is wrong or bad. I just feel like there is a need for modernization, not westernization. Times have changed, when people only lived to thirty, sure marry off your thirteen year-old (puberty=mid-life crisis). There are more opportunities now, not only do people live longer but people live better, women can go to school now and there is a niche cut out for them, even in traditional Muslim communities (women need female doctors, teachers, etc.) I don't understand why you would ever want to limit your children, give them adult responsibilities. Let them be kids for as long as possible, because with bombs going off and people dying, childhood won't last that long anyway.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=108509
4 comments:
I hope one day, across the world, the act of marrying off one's daughter will diminish. All women should have a choice nowadays on who they 'want' to marry. The child bride phenomenon is horrific and unjust.
I agrer. Women should have the right to choose who they would want to marry.
This is a difficult subject to debate because its a part of a culture and they believe it is okay since it is how their ancestors did, also known as mores maorum (Latin). I feel a little ethnocentric to say that this is disgusting and utterly wrong although that is how I feel. Women should be able to make their own choices.
I knew this sort of act was still occurring but I had no idea that they were giving religious reasons for doing this. Let CHILDREN be CHILDREN!
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