Yemen “Tiny Voices Defy”
When searching through currents events on Yemen, I came across a recent New York Times article by Robert Worth that caught my eye. The article titled “Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl named Arwa who made international press when she went to a courthouse in Yemen and demanded a divorce from her husband, thus seeking to end a union that had resulted from a prearranged marriage.
Arwa’s case followed in the footsteps of a 10-year old girl named Nujood who had set legal precedent a month earlier when she also went to the courts in Yemen seeking a divorce. When the judge asked Nujood whether she wanted a permanent divorce or a separation, the young girl stated she wanted to be divorced, and the judge granted her request.
These rulings were groundbreaking for Yemen, where the average age a girls marries is 12 to 13 years old. This fact has devastating consequences that extend into a variety of areas. Girls forced into prearranged marriages are often “pulled out of school and forced to have children before their bodies are ready, many rural Yemeni women end up illiterate and with serious health problems. Their babies are often stunted, too.”
Before these two landmark cases, girls seeking to get out of their marriage would have to go before tribal sheiks, where they were not given a say in the matter. Thus, going to actual courts of law to overturn tradition is groundbreaking to an extent unheard of in Yemen society. However, along with this new wave of legal freedom comes great controversy. For, “hard-line Islamic conservatives, whose influence has grown enormously in the past two decades, defend [the practice of prearranged marriages at young ages], pointing to the Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to a 9-year-old. Child marriage is deeply rooted in local custom here, and even enshrined in an old tribal expression: ‘Give me a girl of 8, and I can give you a guarantee” for a good marriage’.” Thus, although Arwa was seen by many as heroic and brave for her actions, many disapprove of the actions she took and see them as a rebellion against tradition.
One of the reasons I chose this article to post and share is because it accurately captures a great struggle Yemen is facing between traditional practices and modern identity. What is considered unacceptable today may have been considered acceptable centuries ago. To what extent are places and people responsible for enforcing change? At what point do the religious teachings end and human rights begin? Additionally, it is important to note that one of the reasons parents force their young daughters into marriage is because of the severe poverty they are facing. Thus, it is important to consider what other remedies, actions and steps are necessary to ensure that girls’ lives are protected. I feel it is important to understand these issues to gain a sense of the type of struggles Yemen, and many other places in the Middle East in general, are facing.
Jenna Hootstein
