Fixing Marriage Age Spurs Controversy Again

March 17, 2009 will be remembered as an historic day as it is the day in which Yemen’s parliament passed a draft law that sets marriage age for a girl at 18 years old. This move has helped stop an ongoing controversy about marriage and the age at which a girl can be married off.Constant calls by civil society organizations interested in women’s rights and children as well as moderate religious scholars have been raised for fixing a right age for marriage, especially when several cases of underage girls were married off by their fathers to elderly husbands. Last year, Nujood Ali, 10, received an award from the United States as the Woman of the Year after she had challenged the marriage contract signed between her father and her relative, also the husband. Female lawyer Shadha Nasser defended Nujood and managed to stop Nujood’s ordeal and win a ruling that regained Nujood her freedom and her childhood after it was stolen from her when she was married off to a 30-year-old husband. In Yemen, it was common for girls to get married at a very early age. It is also part of the Yemeni tradition that men prefer younger girls. Thousands of Yemeni girls, particularly in rural areas where 75 percent of Yemen’s population lives, get married before the age of 18, as their parents and families see that such an act would keep their chastity and purity and prevent them from committing sins. Studies on early marriage show that about 52 percent of Yemeni girls getting married over the last few years were under 17. The recent endorsement by the Yemeni parliament for some legal texts, presented by the government, relating to women, does agree, to a great extent, with the opinions of Yemenis targeted in the project of “Involving Society in Legislation” implemented over the last two years by the Yemen Polling Center (YPC). The age fixed for a girl’s first marriage is fully compliant with the results of YPC’s public opinion poll conducted towards the end of 2007 where 66.5 percent of respondents see that the right marriage age for a girl is 18 years. Based on poll results, 63.3 percent of men and 83.4 percent of women are for fixing a marriage age for girls and this was rejected by 36.8 percent of men and 16.6 percent of women. Moreover, 34.6 percent of respondents mentioned that 18 is the right age at which a girl can get married, while 24.9 percent chose the age 21 and about 7 percent chose the age 24. According to the same results, more women, about 35 percent, considered the age 21 to be the right age for a girl’s marriage, while 32.8 percent chose the age 18 as the right age for marriage. However, choosing the age 18 by 36.4 percent of men turned the scales in favor of this option. This clearly indicates that the majority of Yemenis, from different backgrounds and educational levels, are for fixing a legally-binding age for a girl’s marriage. The recent legal amendment is made in response to the wishes stated in the public opinion poll as to fixing the girl’s marriage age and it shows keenness in avoiding social and health harms resulting from marrying off underage girls. According to the new law, a court clerk or a chief of zone, once violating the law, is to be sentenced for one year in prison and pay YR 100,000 (some $500) in fines. The same holds true to witnesses but with a reduced term of six months in prison and a fine of YR 50,000.