Yemen Girls Exchanged for Money?

Yemen's human rights minister wants child marriage to be outlawed after an eight year old girl died. She died within days after her marriage with a forty year old man. Rawan, the girl, is said to have died due to internal injuries that she suffered while having sexual intercourse with her husband. The intercourse tore her uterus and other internal organs. Local officials deny the occurrence, but Yemen's human rights minister, Hooria Mashhour, declares that enough damage has been done. He seeks to end the cruel practice and make things right. Many child marriage cases have occurred prior to this case, and the minister wants to focus on those cases as well. When Mashhour talked to the human rights coordinator, the coordinator reported that people would deny the story and hide information on purpose, probably due to fear. People who spoke anonymously said that they were ordered not to talk about the case to the media. They think officials are trying to make the case seem less serious. Others say that nobody is talking about it because it is the poor who are vulnerable. Many of Yemen's people claim that they are forced to sell their daughters to richer men. The head of the police department claims that the reports are not backed up with proof. Child rights advocates are trying to investigate the case, but Rawan's father refuses to be questioned and denies the case. The government denies the investigators the right to see the girl, who is supposedly alive and in her family's custody. Local sources say otherwise and claim that the girl was secretly buried.

Rawan's case brings three things to light: 1. The government is ignoring the suffering of the young female girls. 2. There is a serious issue at Yemen concerning the selling of the hand of female children. 3. People who allow child marriage in their families are being suppressed financially. It is mentioned that people keep silent about the issue and allow the practice because poverty cripples them. Parents sell the girls to wealthier men in exchange for money. What does this say about their economy? To what level of poverty must they be facing that causes them to make such a decision that gravely affects their little girls? Apparently, the government allows girls to be viewed as merchandise that can be sold to anyone who can afford it. It is a really harsh reality, the rich are oppressing the poor, and the poor are the ones who end up damaged. It is possible that Rawan's father refused to be questioned because a rich authority who has power over him forbids it, but it is unknown.

Those thoughts aside, why isn't the government doing anything for the girls? They could create a program that helps the needy families with their financial problems which in turn would stop the need to sell their daughters. Yet, even after so many child marriages, not much has been done.