Child Marriage in Yemen A Look at the Bigger Issues Involved

Poverty in Yemen  Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East  Dire water shortage major cause of poverty  90% of water used for ineffective agricultural practices  In capital city water available every 4 days  In other major cities water available every 20 days  In 10 years they will run out of water for people

Poverty in Yemen  Brink of famine  Humanitarian organizations warned that 44% of people were starving  Warning led to increased food and fuel prices and political instability  Most Yemenis have been displaced due to conflicts and cannot afford food in new areas  Political instability and presence of Al Qaeda led to protests of high unemployment, government corruption and poor economic conditions

5 Quick Facts About Poverty in Yemen  Yemen’s population is 25.4 million. Approximately 54% of the people live in poverty. In other words, 54% of the population survives on fewer than 2 dollars per day.  Approximately 45% of the population is malnourished.  Life expectancy in Yemen is 64 years old, 14 years younger than the average life expectancy in the United States.  Major infectious diseases plaguing the country include Bacterial diarrhea, Typhoid fever, Dengue fever and Malaria, all of which are preventable, curable and in some cases largely unheard of anymore in the western world.  There is less than 1 physician for every 1,000 people in Yemen.

Child Marriage in Yemen  3-5 million Yemeni girls barely in their teens or younger are married mostly in rural areas  Gender inequality and tradition portray women as only being acceptable if they are wives and mothers  50% of Yemeni girls are married before age 18  Most child brides are married to much older men  Husbands are on average at least 10 years older than their child brides  In rural areas, a child bride is viewed as a helping hand to the new family

Link Between Child Brides & Poverty  Much older fathers think they are saving their daughters from poverty especially when husband works abroad  Younger wives are believed to take better care of their husbands than older wives  Traditional views are that purity and chastity are being protected from the dangerous stage of adolescence  Lack of education prevents awareness of risks due to early marriage and birth  Child bride can provide labor to husband’s family to prevent poverty  Child marriage provides money so that bride’s father can remarry if he is unhappy

Why Children & Women are Most Vulnerable  Global financial crises and increasing food prices are causing gender specific consequences for women in poor countries  Countries with high infant/child mortalities and low female schooling are roadblocks to reaching equality and to empowerment movements  Less schooling leads to decreased incomes and increased child deaths due to lack of economic opportunities  Girls are more likely to be pulled out of school when school fees become too high leaving them permanently at the bottom of society

The Fate of Child Brides  Become trapped in cycle of poverty because they re denied educational and economic opportunities  Deprived of fundamental rights to health and safety  Complications in pregnancy and childbirth including death  Victims of domestic violence  High risk of STDs  Without reduction 1.2 billion girls will be married by 2050

The Ramifications  Child marriage is prohibited by law but in most countries it is not enforced and provide exceptions for parental consent or traditional and customary laws  In essence, children are not recognized as having rights over their own body or of being able to consent to what happens to their own body (Most crimes against children get lesser sentences when punished because they are not seen as fully human)  Reinforces gender inequality  Allowing one injustice leads to more injustice

What Can You Do To Help  marriage/ marriage/  Tell people about it  Use social media to create awareness  Share with teachers and students you know  Join a campaign  Donate to the cause  Sponsor a child