Yemeni cleric: Minimum age ban could harm rights of men

GeoffP · Apr 20, 2010

Curious the extent to which one will go to defend a meme as a set agenda. Does no one ever break these things down into their component parts?

YEMEN: Islamic lawmaker decries child marriage ban as part of 'Western agenda'

The recent death of 13-year old Yemeni child bride Elham Assi, who reportedly bled to death last week after being tied down and forced to have sex with her 23-year-old husband, has sparked outrage among rights activists in Yemen.

They are now stepping up their lobbying efforts to push for the implementation of a child marriage ban.

But that may prove a daunting challenge since fierce opposition against a ban on child brides still runs high among some religious leaders and conservatives.

Sheik Mohammed Hamzi, an official of the Islamist Yemeni opposition party Islaah and the imam of the Al-Rahman mosque in the Yemeni capital of Sana, is one of those who staunchly opposes a legal ban on child marriage.

Although he emphasizes that a woman should not get married before she is physically and mentally ready and that she herself needs to accept the marriage, he believes a law that prohibits child marriage constitutes a rights violation.
Click to expand...

Really? And how so?

“I am against the child marriage law because it restrains the freedom of others. When a certain age [for marriage] is set, it violates the rights of others. For example, imagine a young man of 13 or 14 years of age who wants to have sex. … This is a violation of his rights,” Sheik Hamzi told The Times in an interview at his Sana home last week.
Click to expand...

Ah, irony.
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Thus follows shortly thereafter the usual plea to cultural relativity:

“It’s all a Western agenda they are following," he said. "They get paid from the West to make us to believe in Western culture. This is very bad because our culture is different here."

The best that could happen, in his opinion, is that the government shuts them down.

“No one wants to marry these women's-rights activists anyway," he said. "They’re just depressed that they are not married and jealous.”

Would he allow his own young daughters to be married?

"No," he says and looks at the two as they're scurrying around in the room. "At this age, I don’t want them married."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bab...arriage-ban-persists-among-conservatives.html
Click to expand...

One wonders why not.

Log in or Sign up

Yemeni cleric: Minimum age ban could harm rights of men

GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Yemeni cleric: Minimum age ban could harm rights of men

GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches