The continued abuse of girls in arranged marriages in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries is a global scandal. This week, we have yet another glimpse into the nightmare faced by young girls. A girl known only as Shaikha drank a bottle of bleach in an attempted suicide to avoid an arranged marriage with a 75-year-old man.
Shaikha was brought by her father to the man when she was 13 years old and both men ignored her begging not to be forced into the marriage. It is unimaginable how a father could commit such a horrific act, but this is an all-too-common story coming out of this area, click here and here and here.
Notably, Sheikh Abdul Mohsin Al Obeikan, Shura Council member had denounced the marriage, but not on the basis that it was a 13-year-old girl and a 75-year-old man. Instead, he noted that Sharia law requires the consent of the girl.
For the full story, click here.
The fact of the matter is there is nothing the world can do about these travesties.
So why did you guys claim you could do something about the “travesties” taking place in Iraq?
Yes we can Dundar. There was a time when even in the United States women were clearly second class citizens. If we can do it, I believe we can help someone else do it.
Women and girls remain property all over the world. I have a difficult time understanding this. Why any person would choose such an abusive and unequal status with another person is beyond me. How can anyone take delight in dominance over another, specifically dominance over a child? It speaks very badly of each person and each portion of a society that encourages or engages in such hateful mistreatment of others.
For anyone to suggest that nothing can be done to stop the mutilation and abuse of firls and women is frightening. To suggest that means we have given up on over half of the population in countries that practice this abuse. I, for one, can never agree that nothing can be done. We must do everything possible to convince these countries that it is in their best interest to treat all of their citizens humanely and equitably. The world has a stake in what happens to women and children in every country. I realize that there is a long way to go to prevent this kind of result, but if we don’t start now, it may never improve.
Here’s yet another example, this time with a 10-year-old:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hbkzM43ZAVBNvNXfjpm4jeYZfw4AD92CAK4O0
And as sad as all this is, it may well be the least of our problems with the Saudis:
http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
I think that there most certainly are things that can be done to address this treatment. I think that it is most certainly wrong to try to force a child to marry a man of significant maturity in comparison to her own. I believe that if you are going to be in a relationship then the maturity level of the two individuals should be matched. I am not against arranged marriage, but I am against this kind of behavior. Something must be done.