Yemen minister on child marriage: Many child marriages take place every year in Yemen… Enough is enough

Yemen’s human rights minister wants child marriage outlawed after an 8-year-old girl reportedly died of internal injuries that she suffered on her wedding night. When reports emerged last week that a girl named Rawan, from the northern Yemeni town of Haradh, died a few days after being married off to a 40-year-old man, Yemenis were horrified.

International outrage quickly grew, as the alleged incident highlighted once again the extremely controversial issue of child marriage in Yemen — a country where the practice is still legal. Residents of Haradh told local media outlets that Rawan’s cause of death was internal bleeding, believed to be the result of sexual intercourse that tore her uterus and other organs.

Local officials, however, have denied the story is true.

Amidst the numerous claims and counterclaims, Hooria Mashhour, Yemen’s human rights minister, has declared enough is enough — telling CNN that the growing anger over Rawan’s case has presented Yemen with an opportunity to finally do the right thing.

“This isn’t the first time a child marriage has happened in Yemen, so we should not focus only on this case,” Mashhour said. “Many child marriages take place every year in Yemen. It’s time to end this practice.”

“I personally have (talked to) the human rights coordinator for the ministry on the ground in Haradh,” said Mashhour, “and he informed me that nearly everyone he spoke to is denying the story, but he feels strongly suspicious. We feel people may be hiding information due to fear.”

CNN spoke with several locals who requested anonymity, as they feared possible reprisals. Many said they’d been ordered to stop discussing the case with the media, insisting officials there were actively downplaying what had happened.

“No one is talking about this story because its an embarrassment,” said one resident, “but this is what poverty can do to people.”

Many Yemenis say they are forced to sell off their girls to older, wealthier men.

Mohammed Ahmed, head of Haradh’s police department, called the reports “baseless.”

“Thousands of Yemeni girls have their childhood stolen and their futures destroyed because they are forced to marry too young,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, HRW’s women’s rights director. “The Yemeni government should end this abusive practice.”