Child marriage in the Muslim world...

CNN reported this week that "a 12-year-old Yemeni girl, who was forced into marriage, died during a painful childbirth that also killed her baby." It was a horrific story -- but in the Islamic world, not an unusual one.

In Yemen in 2008, an eight-year-old girl, Nojoud Mohammed Nasser, was granted a divorce from her thirty-year-old husband in a high-profile case. GulfNews reported at the time that Nojoud was joyful when she was granted her divorce: "I am so happy to be free and I will go back to school and will never think of getting married again," she said. "It is a good feeling to be rid of my husband and his bad treatment."

But what was unusual about her case was not her age -- it was the fact that she was able to get out of her marriage. GulfNews continued: "According to the International Centre for Research on Women's 2007 statistics, Yemen is one of 20 developing countries where child marriages are common. Nearly half of all Yemeni girls are married before the age of 18." More...

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