Monday, April 14, 2008 at 6:26 PM Parliament refuses to legislate minimum age for marriage.
SANA’A, April 13 – Despite pressure of 8-year-old girl’s husband refusing to set her free. Simultaneously, Yemeni Parliament does not consider early marriage as a priority and is not moving forward with legislation to prevent it.
Shatha Mohammed Nasser, a lawyer in the Supreme Court, said that the case of Nujood Ali, an 8-year-old girl who was forced to marry, is an excellent opportunity to push such legislation forward.
“There are hundreds of Nujood s who have been subjected to sexual abuse by mature men. The problem is that there is no law to punish the father who marries off the child, the sheikh who allows the marriage, or the husband who takes the child home to serve him as a wife,” said Nasser. Although he is currently in custody, Nujood’s husband has rejected her demand to be divorced. “I will not divorce her, and it is my right to keep her. No need to sleep with her, at least I can have her as a wife. No power can stop me,” the husband, Faez Ali Thamer, said. “It is not a matter of loving her, I don’t, but it’s just a challenge to her and her uncle who think that they can put me in jail and also the judge has no right to bring me here. How did she dare to complain about me?” he threatened.
Nujood went to Sana’a West Court on April 2 and demanded that the judge grant a divorce between her and her 30-year-old husband, who had physically and sexually abused her for two months. She also filed a case against her father, who married her off to Thamer. Judge Muhammed Al-Qadhi was sympathetic and ordered both husband and father to be kept in custody; however, the latter was released later on health grounds.
—adams_babymomma | 
