In early marriages in rual india, as you claim, the girl should have attained puberty. Still it is not legal there as the minimum legal age is 18 for girl and 21 for boy.
I think it was in 1860 when they first passed a law in India that forbade intercourse with a girl who was less than ten years old. Mostly through the work of the Brahmo Samaj, I think. Still in practice though http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/13/world/main695062.shtml
That law was about child marriages not intercourse. What a 12 year old husband do with 9 year old wife ?
Its not always so clear cut. http://www.cjreport.com/news/3478/early-child-marriages-still-prevalent-india.html Its a pretty major issue. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
"India law prohibits marriage for women younger than 18 and men under age 21, and parents who break the law — nearly all such marriages are arranged by parents — can be jailed for up to three months. But while the practice is dying out among urban, educated people, child marriages remain common in rural areas. There, it is seen as being beneficial for both families: The bride's parents don't have to support her for very long, and the groom's family gains an unpaid servant, often treated as virtual slave, who usually brings a dowry. The children remain in their parents' houses, though, until the girl reaches puberty, after which she is brought to the groom's home with great ceremony and the marriage is consummated. On Wednesday, 11-year-old Soram Singh peeked shyly from behind her veil a couple of hours after her marriage to Bheeram Singh, 16, a student in the nearby government school. Singh is a common surname in the town, and the two are not related. " - from your link 16 year old husband of 11 year old wife is no match for the 28 year old husband of 8 year old wife in pedophilic activities.
Its a major issue, the sell off was objected by fellow villagers, against law, clearly not accepted as tradition/culture.
Are you happy that US has 4-5 years of advantage over yemen ? Do the Texas uncles and yemeni big husbands screw kids after thanking their respective gods ? Perversions have no religious sanction for who-ever-it-maybe.
Regardless of his intent, I think its marvelous that an eight year old from such a culture has the self determination to know her mind and fight for herself. I was a complete doofus at eight.
Early marriages of 2 kids may not be uncommon. But marriages of a man with a kid was frowned upon. Always treated as tragedy for the kid.
Was there a difference by jati? Didn't lower castes marry their younger children to older men to protect them from advances by the upper caste men?
"The girl's lawyer, Shadha Nasser, said Nojud's case was not unique. "I believe there are thousands of similar cases,'' she said. Civil society groups were pressing parliament to set the minimum age for marriage at 18, she said." It looks like Sam will have a lot of pedophile cases to defend, and will have to fight parliament to make sure they don't set a minimum age. Go Sam!
Actually the Ayatollah said it was best to marry a girl off before her period. Something about how blessed it was that a girl experience her first blood in a strangers' home or something. Whether or not it was religious to start with - and prevarication on women occurs numerous times in the Quran - it is certainly a religious issue now. This is a reversal from your previous stance, that such people just "shouldn't live there". And who are these "people"? The ones already party to the system and imposing it on their own children? How will they change it when even the most liberal believer cries out that "morality isn't the same everywhere, you know"? Strident defense of a supposedly moral-neutral issue doesn't fill me with hope. It isn't ultimately a question of how it's done, but whether it's done at all that matters for women's rights, and whether a little girl should be married off to anyone, or whether they ought to choose for themselves. Notice the difference: Yemen - OK. Custom. Europe - Reprehensible. Illegal. Has anyone ever been busted on child porn charges in Yemen? How about Pakistan? Afghanistan?
Yeah, traditional custom vs elective political party in a culture where pedophilia is a crime. I see the difference.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Maybe the Dutch political party will adopt the Ayatollahs teachings by the time the Yemenis discard their cultural ideas of sexuality? I can already see it. OMIGAWD, those backward Muslims denying children their right to sex. Pretty much how they were "converted" from sodomites to homophobes.
I'm glad you do see the difference. Criminals. Not criminals. A world apart, one might say. Or about half a world or so by my globe. I'll reiterate my point since it wasn't clear the first time: ensuring a minimum age for marriage helps protect women against abuse, whether cultural or religious or both. How are these children "not going to live there", since they're essentially chattel not allowed to stray further than the line of eyesight? What does your sideline into ancient homosexuality portend? Who knows? Best, Geoff
Reading comprehension nil. Like I said from the very beginning, I'm against outside influences, especially western, imposing their moral judgements on any society. They've already done enough damage with their previous incursions and every foray seems to make the situation worse.
