Cutremurator

Un articol din NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/world/middleeast/29marriage.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
trateaza cazurile a doua fetite yemenite, una de 10 ani, maritata cu un barbat de 30 care a abuzat-o si a batut-o, alta, cu aceeasi soarta, de 8 ani, maritata cu unul de 35.

“This is the first shout,” said Shada Nasser, a human rights lawyer who met Nujood, the 10-year-old, after she arrived at the courthouse to demand a divorce. Ms. Nasser decided instantly to take her case. “All other early marriage cases have been dealt with by tribal sheiks, and the girl never had any choice.”
But despite a rising tide of outrage, the fight against the practice is not easy. Hard-line Islamic conservatives, whose influence has grown enormously in the past two decades, defend it, pointing to the Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to a 9-year-old. Child marriage is deeply rooted in local custom here, and even enshrined in an old tribal expression: “Give me a girl of 8, and I can give you a guarantee” for a good marriage.

Consecintele unor asemena casatorii sunt catastrofale nu numai pt sanatatea prea tinerei mamici ci si pt copii lor, adesea tarati.
Dar tatal fetitei de 10 ani, un fost maturator, acum cersetor, care are 16 copii de la doua neveste, spune ca a fost nevoit sa-si marite fiica pt a nuavea soarta fiicelor sale mai mari, care au fost rapite (nu se spune de cine) si maritate cu forta. Din fericire pt micuta aceasta a gasit un judecator care i-a inteles situatia si a fost de acord sa o divorteze, un lucru aproape fara precedent.
Din articol rezulta ca fenomenul fetitelor neveste la o varsta incredibil de mica e specific culturii islamice (si rromii invoca cerintele culturale pt traditii asemanatoare), desi se fac incercari pt a se schimba situatia:

A 1992 Yemeni law set the minimum legal age of marriage at 15. But in 1998 Parliament revised it, allowing girls to be married earlier as long as they did not move in with their husbands until they reached sexual maturity.
That change reflected the triumph of northern Yemen’s more conservative Islamic culture over the secular and Marxist south after North and South Yemen united in 1990. In South Yemen, the government had passed a law in 1979 setting the age of marriage at 16 for women and 18 for men.

Rezultatul?

But in Yemen, as in Afghanistan — another country where child marriage is common — the fight against Communism ended with the triumph of a hard-line form of Islam.

Daca pt fetita de 10 ani lucrurile par rezolvate, fetita de 8 ani, care a fugit la spital si a fost dusa la politie, care a arestat imediat judecatorul care a aprobat casatoria, inca asteapta o sentinta (care s-ar putea sa nu-i fie favorabila) in casa unor rude.
Autorul sustine ca de vina ar fi saracia, dar eu raman la parerea ca si traditiile religioase sunt responsabile.