Girls are increasingly being married off in war-torn Yemen

Yemen: Nasrine's husband was once a happy, optimistic man. He made good money from a restaurant and butcher shop he owned. "With his hands, he could turn dust into gold," Nasrine says, reports AP.
Then Yemen's civil war escalated, and as the country collapsed, so did he. He lost his businesses, the family became destitute, he began abusing Nasrine, and they divorced, she says. Soon after, she says, she learned to her horror that her ex-husband had agreed to marry off their 10-year-old daughter to a man in his 60s for 1 million riyals, or about $4,000.
Nasrine managed to block the wedding and went into hiding with her daughter.
Her case illustrates what human rights activists say is a dire situation for girls in Yemen: Child marriages are mounting dramatically in the Arab world's poorest country, fueled by a war that has thrown society into turmoil.
As the fighting grinds on in its third year, millions of families are unable to make ends meet, and more than 3 million people have been driven from their homes, ending up in camps. For families desperate for cash, unable to support their children or afraid they cannot protect their daughter's "virtue," marrying off a girl becomes the solution.
UNICEF said in March that early marriage in Yemen has become "alarmingly widespread." In a survey conducted in September in six provinces, 72 percent of female respondents said they got married before 18 - compared with around 50 percent in surveys before the war - and about 44 percent said they were wedded before they turned 15, the organization said.
"Parents marry off their daughters to be relieved of the cost of their care or because they believe a husband's family can offer better protection," UNICEF said. "Families also seek dowry payments to cope with conflict-related hardship."

 

Girls are increasingly being married off in war-torn Yemen

Yemen: Nasrines husband was once a happy, optimistic man. He made good money from a restaurant and butcher shop he owned. With his hands, he could turn dust into gold, Nasrine says, reports AP. Then Yemens civil war escalated, and as the country collapsed, so did he. He lost his businesses, the family became destitute, he began abusing Nasrine, and they divorced, she says. Soon after, she says, she learned to her horror that her ex-husband had agreed to marry off their 10-year-old daughter to a man in his 60s for 1 million riyals, or about $4,000. Nasrine managed to block the wedding and went into hiding with her daughter. Her case illustrates what human rights activists say is a dire situation for girls in Yemen: Child marriages are mounting dramatically in the Arab worlds poorest country, fueled by a war that has thrown society into turmoil. As the fighting grinds on in its third year, millions of families are unable to make ends meet, and more than 3 million people have been driven from their homes, ending up in camps. For families desperate for cash, unable to support their children or afraid they cannot protect their daughters virtue, marrying off a girl becomes the solution. UNICEF said in March that early marriage in Yemen has become alarmingly widespread. In a survey conducted in September in six provinces, 72 percent of female respondents said they got married before 18 - compared with around 50 percent in surveys before the war - and about 44 percent said they were wedded before they turned 15, the organization said. Parents marry off their daughters to be relieved of the cost of their care or because they believe a husbands family can offer better protection, UNICEF said. Families also seek dowry payments to cope with conflict-related hardship.