A 12-year old Yemeni girl dies in childbirth a year after being forced into marriage.

[ccharles000]

I saw the headline "Yemeni girl, 12, dies in painful childbirth" in the gym this morning, and couldn't get it out of my head all day. The story of Fawziya Ammodi, the girl in question, is terribly sad, and appalling on so many levels. Fawziya came from an impoverished family, and because of financial hardship was forced to drop out of school last year (she was in fourth grade) and married to a 24-year-old man. She died of severe bleeding on Monday, after a three-day labor. Her baby didn't live.

Fawziya's death brings up the dual issues of child brides, which are very common in Yemen (more than half of girls are married off before the age of 18), and the quality of maternal health care, not to mention limited birth control education and resources. Dr. Ana Langer, the president of EngenderHealth, has a great post up at HuffPo about how planning pregnancies can save women's lives (she encourages all of us to contact our legislators about a spending increase in the FY10 Foreign Operations Bill - if you're interested in learning more, check out this link).

And then we're confronted with the horror of women who are forced to get married because of poverty, or because women are considered a burden to their family after a certain age. Regardless of conversations about the appropriate age for marriage in any society, I think we can all agree that 12-year-old girls should not be forced into sexual relationships with men twice their age. It's unclear as to why Fawziya's family encouraged (or forced) her to marry, but there are many, many circumstances where young women are essentially sold to older men. This was the case last year, when 10-year-old Nujood Ali escaped from her new husband, who raped her within weeks of the ceremony. In February, members of the Yemeni parliament tried to pass a law raising the minimum age for marriage to 17, but the initiative was blocked by hard-liners who argued that it violates Sharia law.

For me, the causes behind the tragedy of Fawziya's death are very hard to pin down, mostly because there are so many. And I'm afraid that it's going to be turned into yet another conversation about why Islam is bad for women, which is so often oversimplified. Obviously, the men who are using Sharia to block a minimum marriage age are propping up a patriarchal system where women can be bought and sold, but I don't want the child bride issue to be the only thing that comes out of this conversation. The horrible death of this little girl was also because of poor prenatal and maternal care, and an inability (or unwillingness) to access or use contraceptives. It was also because of her family's extreme poverty that she was married in the first place. The forced marriage of young girls is a human rights abuse, and it's really horrifying to think that there are more issues at play in Fawziya's death. But I hope that more comes from this tragic, tragic event than a simple condemnation of extremists in the Yemeni government.

http://equalwrites.blogspot.com/2009/09/12-year-old-yemeni-girl-dies-in.html

[Odin2005]

1. Sick. There are no words.

:cry:

[PDJane]

2. It's a fact of life, no matter what the right to life bunch

would have you believe, that for a child under the age of 15 or 16, an abortion is safer than carrying a child to term. The body isn't ready to bear a live child. This is just how it is, and marrying a child before she is ready for sex or children is a disgusting waste of life.

[ccharles000]

3. yup

[demosincebirth]

4. It happens all over the muslim world, where little girls are forced into marriage

with men four times their age. Sad.

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of Muslims do NOT practice child marriage

I really wish these post didn't have to be turned into Muslim bashing threads. Conditions throughout the entire third world are absolutely deplorable for large numbers of children. This is certainly nothing unique to the Muslim world. One only has to go one mile past the Texas/Mexican border to see conditions for children that are absolutely outrageous.

I have lived in the Middle East for 23 years - child marriage happens - particularly in remote areas in certain countries.

Fortunately, I have not seen more than a few case in the past 23 years. I have not seen any cases in the past 20 years.

My work has in me in a position where I would be familiar with a large number of women coming in to deliver babies...again I have not seen any cases in the past 20 years and only a few cases about 20 years ago.

I should add that where I have seen it was in remote, impoverished areas that lacked education for young girls. I have not seen any cases in more urban settings where education for girls is common.

I'm also equally aware of such cases in impoverished, remote parts of Christian Philippines and Hindu, India and Nepal. In the Philippines, where I have also spent a number of years, when children do not have anyone to take care of them, it is extremely common that they will be "adopted" to work as servants for some family - with conditions that are sometimes indescribable. And sadly, they are usually damn grateful - because the alternative is far, far worse.

Child marriage may very well be common in Yemen. My work about twenty years ago was in a remote province of Saudi - just north of Yemen. Education for young girls is now fairly well established in Saudi Arabia - That is probably not the case in Yemen which is considerably more impoverished than remote areas of Saudi Arabia. Yemenis cross over illegally into Saudi Arabia regularly to try to find work and at times to beg on the street. Yemen is stunningly poor and I am certain lacking in education for young girls or any other opportunities.

[demosincebirth]

7. Well, it happens more there than any other part of the world. nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

8. actually - according to UNICEF, 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. -

which is overwhelmingly Hindu - not Muslim.

47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18,

56% in rural areas.

But wherever it is occurring and whatever religion of the people involved - the pattern is the same - extreme poverty and lack of education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage

http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/18/stories/2009011855981100.htm

http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09-ExecSummary-EN.pdf

[kestrel91316]

5. Gosh, I'm sure no one could have forseen this........