The look on this little girl’s face is haunting. It should be. These “weddings” may be “customary,” but that does not imply that the tradition should be protected. This is not a cultural practice that should be relegated to global diversity. It combines two of the most heinous practices among humans: slavery and rape.
Faiz Mohammed, 40, and Ghulam Haider, 11, sit in her family’s home prior to their wedding in the rural village of Damarda, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2005. Ghulam said she is sad to be getting engaged as she wanted to be a teacher. Her favorite class was Dari, the local language, before she was made to drop out of school.
It breaks my heart because when I was 11, I already knew I was meant to be a teacher. I had the opportunity to fulfill that. Secretary Clinton’s mission is for every child to have the chance to live up to her/his God-given potential. It does not appear that this little girl will have that privilege.
Read the story in today’s Foreign Policy. The Young and the Betrothed..
These people are animals.
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Sickening.
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This is not unique to Arabs/muslims. It happens among Hindus in India, increasingly less, but still does.
In Azerbaijan, Brides Too Young To Marry Are Marrying Anyway
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_child_brides/24209453.html
It is a tradition of yester-years that no longer belongs in this world.
There are many who will try to justify it and say ‘oh, i was just fine with it’ – but that does not make it ok. It does not say that it is the best life the person would have had.
It is a barbaric tradition.
No matter when it happened/happens — and whether or not the so married get along — it is demeaning to the girl/woman and reduces them to chattel.
It MUST end.
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Arranged marriage is the leading cause of suicide among young women in India. I learned that when our young grad assistant went home after finishing a M<aster's degree and killed herself within months. She still pops up on my Facebook page every so often. Gone.
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This just makes me sick to my stomach. The guy is old enough to be her grandfather!!!!!!!!!!
Poor girl!!!!
BTW, I was unaware of this site. How many are there?
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Just this and Still4Hill. Don’t post here that much. I started it as a “Hillary Defense Site” but it has expanded.
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I thought that you also had A Rose for Hillary or did you give it up?
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I do, but it is a mirror of Still4Hill. It doesn’t get more than a tenth of the traffic of Still4Hill – usually much less. It’s exactly the same. I keep it up for two reasons:
1. It has followers (not many) from countries that block people from accessing the internet and especially HRC’s work. I can tell that these folks have bookmarked the site – they go straight to it without a search, and
2. as a kind of back-up site in case S4H ever got hacked.
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Good plan, I started on that site but moved to Still4hill because it had many more responses.
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🙂 And I started with a blog back-up account, but the site dried up! I guess I take my chances, but for all its clunkiness, wordpress has a good support system. Google is more botic and not “caring,” but it seems safe enough. Best of two blog worlds in some ways.
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