Yemen: Girls as young as 12 years old 'given away' to wealthy grooms, report reveals

Child marriages are on the rise in Yemen with girls in the country forced to marry soon after they turn 12 years old, a recent report by Japanese broadcaster NHK World revealed. While United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) labels wedding under 18 years of age as a direct violation of human rights, girls as young as 10 years of age are “given off” to grooms, mostly chosen by the child bride’s father. Yemen, a country of 30 million people, has often slammed for human rights abuses, and the plight has worsened since the civil war.

With poverty and hunger wreaking havoc in the Middle Eastern country, an increasing number of parents, unable to make ends meet, are offering their young daughters in return for a bride price. UNICEF estimates that more than four million children were forcibly married in the country last year, reported NHK World. Not only has child marriage surged, but the country also recorded an overwhelming rise in crime against women and domestic violence. Speaking to NHK, the Sana’a based Yemeni Women's Union, said that it gets about 60 calls a month regarding abusive husbands. Most of these cases stem from child marriages.

The war in the Arab world’s poorest country erupted in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led coalition, determined to restore President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi’s government, launched a military intervention months later. The fighting in Yemen has spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical shortages. According to AP, the deadly crisis has killed over 112,000 people till now. 

Other threats 

Apart from social and physical crimes against women, the war-torn country is also at the risk of a much larger natural disaster. Earlier, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that the country, located in the Arabian Peninsula, is also facing an imminent danger of the world’s worst famine. Calling for urgent action in the region, the 71-year-old said that many lives could be in the absence of an immediate move.  Yemen, located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, has been torn between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia in a war that has caused widespread poverty and hunger.

Image: UNICEF