Yadda wrote on Mar 5
th, 2014 at 11:24am:
K,
The evidence, of the prevalence, of the abuse of young girls and young women, by moslem men [WHEREVER MOSLEM MEN ARE!], does not concern you ???
It does concern me, Y, and I've explained why at length. My description of this phenomenon as a women's rights issue rather than a paedophile issue, of course, did not meet the superior peer-review standards of Ozpolitic's Islam Board. Your own referenced SMH article, I think, describes the phenomenon of child marriage well:
Quote:The practice is widespread in Yemen and has been particularly hard to discourage in part because of the country's gripping poverty - bride-prices in the hundreds of dollars are especially difficult for poor families to pass up.
More than a quarter of Yemen's females marry before age 15, according to a report last year by the Social Affairs Ministry.
Tribal custom also plays a role, including the belief that a young bride can be shaped into an obedient wife, bear more children and be kept away from temptation.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/top-clerics-oppose-ban-on-child-brides-20100323-qrk8.html#ixzz2v30qS3w7
You are, however, changing the perameters of a discussion on underage marriage in Sydney. Yemen is as far from Sydney as you can get: politically, culturally and economically. I don't think you'll find two societies as different as Yemen and Australia. Despite this, there is a campaign in Yemen to return the marriage age to 17, where it was in 1994. I don't know if this is the influence of Western NGOs or a shift within Yemen itself - perhaps coming from women's groups.
"The evidence, of the prevalence, of the abuse of young girls and young women, by moslem men"
in Sydney is, so far, two Islamic marriages.
In one of those cases, the girl reported that she was married against her will, and sexually and physically abused. The other case has not yet gone to court, but the girl's father alledges that the 12 year old girl was in love and consented to the "marriage".
This claim will be tested in court. Is it certainly possible, given the census figures on underage
non-Muslim defacto marriages in NSW. As I've explained, I know of many underage defacto relationships in Sydney. While I don't support them, they exist. They are a phenomenon as old as Romeo and juliet, which I believe was originally a Persian folk story before it was dramatised by Shakespeare.
Again, if you have any actual evidence of an epidemic of child marriaged in Sydney, please let us all know. The old boy provided good evidence of three Muslim states with no minimum age for marriage. This provided me with an awareness of this issue as a Muslim phenomenon. As your SMH article shows, those who are rallying against a minimum age for marriage in Yemen are senior Muslim clerics of the most fundamentalist persuasion.
I am definitely concerned about this - particularly the use of apostacy laws to discourage debate. I haven't heard their arguments, but as far as I can tell, these clerics fit the mould of fundamentalist old boys everywhere. They are old boy cranks straight from Central Casting. With turbans.
But Yemen is not Australia, and Australia is not Yemen. Again, if you have evidence of a child marriage epidemic in Australia, just tell me what it is. If it's true, I'll be the first to join you in a good old moan.
It is a jolly world, no?