The issue of child brides is not unique to Islam, so my thrust has nothing at all to do with Islam, but it has everything to do with the practice of forcing young girls in countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan into marriage at an early age. More often than not the young girls end up dead at a very young age because their bodies are too immature for sexual relations.
However, this story, about a 15 year old girl in Afghanistan is quite sickening. The girl was sold by her brother to a family who then abused her because she refused to become a prostitute. This young girl’s injuries are quite horrific, and it is not just the physical injury. What is worse, she escaped and was sent back to the household where the abuse from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law continued until a male relative turned up looking for her. Only then was her plight recognized.
Afghanistan has a long way to go in recognizing women’s rights. There was a time when Afghanistan was quite modern, but that was before the Taliban gained control in the country. This young girl’s story is not unique, and there has been some effort to try and prevent such abuses, except that few in the country are paying any attention to the legislation that is supposed to give some rights to young girls in this situation.
What can be done? Other than promoting the story there is probably not a lot that can be done until people in those countries finally realize that women are not second class citizens and that children, or rather little girls, cannot be sold off as though they are chattels. This after all was the fate of the young girl in this story.
Aussie
