By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
AL-ZAHRA, Yemen – Twelve-year-old Yemeni girl, Fawziya Abdullah Youssef died after struggling for three days in labor. Youssef died of severe bleeding while giving birth to a stillborn in the al-Zahra district hospital in the Hodeida province 140 miles west of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a.
Youssef was 11-years-old when her father married her to a 24-year-old man working in Saudi Arabia as a farmer. According to Ahmed Al-Quraishi, the chairman of Siyaj human rights organization, “this is one of many cases that exist in Yemen, the reason behind it is the lack of education and awareness, forcing many girls into marriage in this very young age.”
Despite its proximity to oil rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world. Tribal customs dominate and more than a quarter of the country’s females marry before the age of 15, according to a recent report by the Social Affairs Ministry. This issue vaulted into the international spotlight after the case of Nujood[VAC1] Mohammad Ali, an 8-year old girl whose unemployed father arranged a marriage with a man 20-years her senior. Ali was granted a divorce by a Yemeni court, in explaining his actions the father cited fears that she may have been kidnapped by her would be spouse had he not arranged the marriage.
Ali’s lawyer Shada Nasser [VAC2] has been a vocal advocate for the child brides. She places the blame on the government for not adopting laws which would enact a minimum age for marriage. Nasser has said the government “should launch awareness campaigns in rural areas and prevent clerics from concluding marriage contracts for girls under the age of 17.”
For more information, please see:
UN News Centre – Yemen: Unicef Chief Deplores Death of 12 -Year-Old Bride – 15 – September 2009
Arab News – 12-Year-old Yemen Bride Dies in Labor – 14 – September – 2009
Chronicle – Yemeni 12-year-old dies in labor – 12 – September – 2009
Middle East Online – Tragedy In Yemen: 12-year-old bride dies giving birth – 13 – September – 2009
