The story was later picked up by the BBC and other Western media outlets, prompting rare public criticism by the United States, which called the case a "clear and unacceptable violation of human rights."
The keyword above is rare. The economic gain is so great that apart from rare public criticism, such human rights issues are generally dismissed by governments, leaving all alone the people like Tariq Nasser, who cried, "Why regulation? Why isn't the headline: marriage to minors outlawed?" after Justice Minister Mohammad Issa's half-hearted comment that the ministry of justice was seeking to "regulate" marriages of young girls but gave no indication the practice would be stopped.
Or HRC spokesman Zuhair Al-Harithy who said such marriages violate international agreements concerning children, referring to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a signatory. He is alone, too.
Or Muhammad Nujaimi, a member of the official Islamic Jurisprudence Society, who has repeatedly demanded a ban on forced and underage marriage. He, too, is alone.
If they raised their voice a bit higher, the system with which we all love to make business would ruthlessly crush them.
And the question remains: What are we going to do about it? Should we close our eyes hiding behind the lame excuse of cultural differences, sovereignty or the like?
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As the mother of a nine year old girl, this subject makes my skin crawl! The idea of children being forced into marriage at such an early age is plain unacceptable! surely steps need to be taken not regulate this practice, but to end it altogether!
ReplyDeleteI do not have kids but I have pretty good idea what I would do if a man showed up at my doorstep and wanted to marry my 8 or 9 year old daughter. I would throw him out of the window.
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