OXFAM Links - November 2005

Yemen: the campaign against early marriage

According to recent research conducted by Oxfam-supported partners in Yemen, more than 50 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18. Many have been forced to give their ‘consent’ and are often made to marry men much older than themselves. In response to the research findings, Oxfam’s partners and allies are planning to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the negative development consequences of early marriage.

Despite having rights under Islamic law, including the rights to child custody, inheritance, and divorce, women in Yemen face discrimination throughout their lives. Traditional practices such as early marriage often have negative development consequences for women, and these are sometimes difficult to challenge.

There are numerous reasons why girls in Yemen are married off early: traditional customs and religious practices; the perception that girls are an economic burden; a concern that a girl may not get married at all if her marriage is delayed; and women’s lack of control over their own bodies. The impact of early marriage upon the girls is negative, but the same is true if young boys are involved: they suffer too, from the economic burden imposed on them. On average, however, husbands are seven to ten years older than their wives. Many girls are forced out of school to marry much older men. Young women have to bear the health risks that result from early sexual relations, pregnancies, and childbirth. Many face domestic violence. Deprived of an education and burdened with several children early on, many women, if divorced by their husbands, have no choice but second marriages to older men, or dependence on their families.

The campaign against early marriage is the initiative of Oxfam partners: national and local organisations which are engaged in the process of building alliances with others to design and implement campaign strategies. They have chosen to take a developmental approach to the issue of early marriage, and its negative consequences for young girls (and boys).

The campaign will work at both the national and local levels to promote understanding of the harm done by early marriage: as a barrier to girls’ education; as a factor that contributes to higher maternal and infant mortality rates; as a cause of reproductive-health complications for women; and as a practice that perpetuates the cycle of poverty. The main aim of the campaign will be public education, along with advocacy aimed at introducing legislation to set 18 years as the minimum legal age for marriage.

The campaign will attempt to instil in parents a sense of concern about their daughters. It will focus on development concerns that need to be better understood by Yemeni people at large, so they can contribute effectively to ending the practice of early marriage – whether as policy makers, as development and health practitioners, as advocates of women’s and children’s rights, or as citizens.

The campaign planning process has taken two years. So far the response has been favourable, but it will take many years to bring about a substantial change in the practice of early marriage. Oxfam is committed to supporting the campaign for the next four years by providing partners with technical support to develop and manage it.

Nisha, Campaign Adviser, Yemen