By Mat Nashed| The Daily Star – Oct. 30. 2015
Beirut, Lebanon: In the midst of conflict and war, forced child marriages have increased considerably in the region, said rights activists who gathered wto conclude a three-day seminar on the topic at the Gefinor Rotana Hotel.
Sixty activists came together from 13 Arab countries to offer new insight into the issue while developing important strategies for the international community and governing actors to consider.
“Any form of human trafficking is a crime against humanity,” said Jumana Merhi, the director of the Arab Institute for Human Rights in Lebanon. “We stress our rejection to any compromise on the rights of women in any way.”
The workshop was launched by AIHRL, ABAAD MENA Organization, and supported by the Humanist Institute for Cooperation (HIVOS) and The Democratic Forum for Women in Transitional Societies.
According to a U.N. survey released in 2014, rates of child marriage among Syrian nationals had particularly risen exponentially due to the crisis. Nearly 18 percent of those surveyed said they had been married before they were 18.
Save the Children had further concluded that nearly one in every four Syrian children had been married off in Jordan.
Activists have said that the problem is becoming equally severe elsewhere in the region.
Fahmi Karami, a representative for the Social Affairs Ministry, said that it’s important for activists and civil society associations to work with the government to better protect boys and girls in their respective countries.
“Partnership with the government and civil society goes a long way,” he said. “We have to try to impose international law over national law to advance our cause.”
Child marriages are, to various extents, an embedded convention in many parts of the region. Yet families who are most vulnerable often resort to marrying their daughters off earlier to “protect” them from abuse – especially in areas where authorities are reluctant to do so. In other cases, families living in extreme poverty may give their daughters away to simply relieve themselves from having another mouth to feed. Nevertheless, the consequences for the child are often irreparable.
Deprived of a childhood and an education, child brides – who are almost always girls – are expected to bear children at an age where their bodies are not developed to do so. According to the World Health Organization, childbirth complications remain one of the leading causes of death in the world among 15- to 19-year-old girls.
Yet while social conventions are an obvious factor, activists have also stressed the prominent role that political violence has played in violating the rights of women and children in the region.
Suheir Farraj, a Palestinian activist from Bethlehem who attended the seminar, said that the Israeli occupation has, for instance, created an environment conducive for violence against women on all levels.
“Girls under occupation sometimes can’t reach school because of all the checkpoints so instead some families may marry them off to ensure their “protection,” Farraj told The Daily Star. “In other cases, the occupation has affected the security of our household. Political violence in our context cannot be separated from gender-based violence.”
Despite the challenges ahead, activists said that workshops aimed to connect initiatives across regional borders are imperative to achieve an end to military conflicts, self-determination and the protection of those most vulnerable. “For women in the Middle East to have strong and sustainable protection, we need an end to occupation, religious extremism and the meddling of international forces,” Farraj said.
Извор: WUNRN - 11.02.2016
