Yemen was inducted into the United Nations in 1947. Effective from 1990, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified by every member nation except for two, since 1998.
Yemen, having ratified this act is bound under international law to uphold it’s tenets-- including that of the citizens of the nation.
Child marriage violates this law, and perpetrators should be held accountable not only in local, but international criminal courts.
Summary of the above point: What happened to the child is illegal under international law, as upheld by the ratification of said act by Yemen itself. Where’s the relativism now?
A. Rape is rape, and it is immoral, unjust, and an atrocity under any midline or higher moral reasoning. It should especially be seen as such by one able to look at it from outside the cultural bias. But we would hope that such a viewpoint not be held by an apologetic sociopath.
Regardless of what age a person loses their virginity, the base issues are respect for women, and the right of every person no matter their age or sex to choose whether or not they engage in intercourse and with whom they do so.
B. You do not know the attitude of such children being sold off. Furthermore, even if they approach the situation with some form of compliance, you fail to consider the psychological background and conditioning which relegate such women to accepting and even upholding such roles as being little more than chattel.
What makes me think that my viewpoint is better? Let’s address them.
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I’m more than familiar with cultural and moral relativism. Relativism ENDS when one leaves the field. Relativism does NOT denote a lack of opinion. It merely demands when reporting one’s findings, one do so with no or at least minimal personal bias. This is a forum. This isn’t fieldwork. No one is studying this situation firsthand. We are more than allowed to form an opinion.
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Every single person has the right and the obligation to step in to prevent or end such atrocities. We are not factions or groups held together by a fragile net. We are a global community. And EVERY SINGLE injustice effects EVERYONE in one way or another..
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Refusing to uphold the rights of others is the same as perpetrating the injustice on them yourself. If you do not condemn rape, then you are no better than a rapist.
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Consent is consent. Coercion, force, or otherwise is not. A 14 year old choosing to screw around and drink has nothing to do with this young child being cast off into an islamically unjust marriage where she became the victim of sexual exploitation by a so called husband. Whatever your moral leanings on the former may be, they have no correlation to the subject of discussion.
5.Self harm is consensual. Rape is not.
6.Our way of life has nothing to do with this. Rape is bad. Forced marriage is bad. Islam says so, international law says so, and the victim feels so.
- Again, our “western ways,” have nothing to do with it. Rape is deemed bad in the west as well, yet it still happens. You may choose to sit idly by and shrug at such suffering, but others choose not to. We don’t justify, excuse, or condone it. Not giving a damn is the same as committing the crime.
Summary- consent is consent. Learn to differentiate between coercion, force, and consent. And please, stop bringing unrelated issues into the topic. It detracts from the subject at hand, and wastes time.
No. Puberty is a process. Menstruation often begins at the onset-- leaving ample time for further development.
I do wonder though, if one is unable to emphathize or at least sympathize with the plights of others, does the fault lie with the parents, or is it simply due to bad wiring?