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Platapus · 09-21-13, 02:21 PM

There are some things that are just plain wrong.

Some history:
Prior to the 1990's, the minimum age for marriage was 15 in Yemen. This was overturned by the Yemen legislation and it was decided that the parents are the ones to make the decision concerning marriage of their children. This is an old and established Arab custom.

In Feb 2009, Yemen passed a law establishing a minimum age for marriage to be 17 for both men and women. This law was overturned by the Yeman Islamic Sharia Codification Committee.

Under the Yemen instantiation of Sharia (each country has its own interpretation of Sharia), a woman can get married at age 9 but the husband can not consummate the marriage until the woman is 15. In Islam as in several other cultures, there is a recognized difference between marriage and sex.

The problem, of course, is in the enforcement... which there ain't none. The added kicker is that under the Yeman Sharia, a woman can not request a divorce until she is 15. So from 9 to 15, she is truly the property of her husband/parents.

Yemen is a signatory to the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. While that convention establishes that a woman can only marry with her full consent, the convention only tasks the signatories with

"The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory."

So if Yemen decides that a woman 9 years old can get married, unfortunately, that's the way it is.

But somethings are just simply wrong.

09-21-13, 02:21 PM	#14
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,382 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	There are some things that are just plain wrong. Some history: Prior to the 1990's, the minimum age for marriage was 15 in Yemen. This was overturned by the Yemen legislation and it was decided that the parents are the ones to make the decision concerning marriage of their children. This is an old and established Arab custom. In Feb 2009, Yemen passed a law establishing a minimum age for marriage to be 17 for both men and women. This law was overturned by the Yeman Islamic Sharia Codification Committee. Under the Yemen instantiation of Sharia (each country has its own interpretation of Sharia), a woman can get married at age 9 but the husband can not consummate the marriage until the woman is 15. In Islam as in several other cultures, there is a recognized difference between marriage and sex. The problem, of course, is in the enforcement... which there ain't none. The added kicker is that under the Yeman Sharia, a woman can not request a divorce until she is 15. So from 9 to 15, she is truly the property of her husband/parents. Yemen is a signatory to the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. While that convention establishes that a woman can only marry with her full consent, the convention only tasks the signatories with "The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory." So if Yemen decides that a woman 9 years old can get married, unfortunately, that's the way it is. But somethings are just simply wrong. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right. Last edited by Platapus; 09-21-13 at 02:42 PM.