I just saw a NY times article about childe brides in Afghanistan. Very sad. Here is a link to a picture slideshow about this:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2006/07/06/magazine/20060709_BRIDES_SLIDESHOW_1.html
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
In U.S. men r legally allowed to marry girls 12 yr old and up. Its bad for this day and age.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
Really???
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
That just isnt true. In a couple of states, you can marry at age 16 WITH parental permission but that is most definitely not the norm. Marrying at 12 in the US?? Not here, and an attempt at such a thing would land you in jail!
So sad about the child brides in Afghanistan. Their parents are just too poor to do anything else it seems.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
A part of me is sad that these girls lives are now destroyed and a part of me is angry at their parents and guys who marry them. Poverty is no excuse to destroy the life of your own daughter. It is practices such as these that keep such societies backward and poor. When a nation does not value the capabilities of 50% of their society they will never be able to solve their problems.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
Instead of pointing fault somewhere else in the world you could simply criticise/condemn the wrongs actions 
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
xguru, I do understand completely what you are saying but
what if THIS is the situation...
no birth control or healthcare available. Too many mouths to feed. Little girl and the rest of the family goes hungry - OR- you get a bit of a dowry, are able to feed the rest of the family a little more and your little girl, although married too young, will get regular meals.....
heartbreaking but I think that this is what they face.
I have a sad story to tell.....
on my second visit to pak, i went to a lovely afghani restaurant. Outside, there was an afghani mother with 2 young toddlers. People either ignored them or gave them the dirtiest looks and cursed them. In the restaurant, we were given beautiful and bountiful food, WAY too much for us to eat ourselves. I asked the manager to give it to the mother and the 2 little ones and he nastily and angrily complied, almost throwing the food at the little ones. They were so very hungry that they didnt care about the nastiness.
Once people care enough to ACTUALLY help, things will be able to change. But from what I saw over there, afghanis are considered dirt, are spit upon and hated.....they did nothing wrong, they only got out of a war zone with the clothes on their backs....yeah? So lets all be more accepting here and help our fellows in need.....
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
Pictures can be read in a thousand different ways. We should not overlook the reasons why this happened. Just showing pictures and ignoring the reasons is deception.
Yes, I agree child marriage is not todays norm for many reasons but what are we doing to change the reasons behind it. Things in every society happen according to their norms. In a society where there is no concept of education or nothing else to strive for these kind of things make sense to the people living in that society and you cannot argue against it. What is a child whose parents can barely afford to feed her and providing education is a dream, to do.
Typical propaganda. We want persecute people for their actions yet completely ignore the reason behind those actions.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
Go read/learn Islam before making opinions if your muslims.
If not, nobody Muslim gives a .....
Words are cheap and anyone can say them.
Women in islam WERE married at that age, and have been since Prophetic era.
parents- puhleeease. How would you people know what the parents decision or hardeship is huh? NEVER
Guessing and guessing and blaming/defaming the weak downtrodden isnt sensicle nor good enough.
Either help remove or basically quit spreadng misinformation from the racist, callin Muhammad a perverted caveman western scientists/educated/governments 'n' media.
Its hard enough for the poor as it is- wanna ask, ask your parents who have a say in the running of affairs abroad if your pakistani.
See how much they do.
If those with WEALTH/EASE can sit back and rant, wat can those helpless do.
Ignorance is soooo everywhere.
Is it better to marry a girl to man, lawfully chastily, or wait till she starts bunking men, and men raping her in the 100s?
Exactly. Think.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
America has truly abandoned and let down Afghanistan. How are they any better off now,(since the war) I don't understand? They're orphaned, homeless, impoverished. It's beyond sad.
bbung4, i think you need to do some reading up on Islam. Doesn't it say that a woman should be asked if she wants to marry. If she says no then it's her choice. Do you think a girl being given away for a GAMBLING DEBT is a truly lawful and fair marriage? These people are probably uneducated and so impoverished that their worst qualities and weaknesses are being revealed. Unfortunately for an average American person to look at these photos and not know the culture, or religion, or history, or true living situation of these people, is not fair. The Afghani people can easily be portrayed as barbaric just judging by the pictures alone.
In the minds of these Afghani men, they are being honourable in providing a home for a young bride. And can you imagine a family trying to decide whether to give their daughter away? To them, marriage is a secure and blessed solution. So they can feed their sons because they have so little. And sons are worth more than daughters.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
I agree with your points, and I know enough about Islam to live another 100 year, thanks.
I didnt imply nor say a woman is allowed to be “sold” nor given “against” her will.
I’m totally against rape (as is that) and extreme emotional, physical, mental cruelty.
Islam says, "THE WOMANS SILENCE IS HER APPROVAL…
… as WAS WITH FATIMAH bin MUHAMMAD.
I have direct experience of living in and around Afghan for 15 years you see.
SO Im better aware, than most of those who like to rant without any ACTUAL knowledge.
You may want to think about that again, before lying/slandering and conjecturing, which if you know islam, is AGAINST GOD EXTREMELY.
Thats completely NOT true, BUT for some societies.
Pakistan being one.
India being two.
Thanks.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
In Afghanistan, Muslims usually marry early and thus it is nothing new. But marrying to 29 years old difference is like a son's or a daughter's relationship.
Just to add that pathans in Pakistan marriages are different. People use guns and fire up.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
In PAKISTAN men marry women at ages of 60 (man) 12 (woman).
The problem is everywhere in oldern cultures.
They still treat their wives more HUMANLY and gently than most western a$$licks and/or barbarains.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
You know what my friend says? “If it bleeds it breeds” 
I wouldn’t do it myself but I don’t see anything wrong with it as long as the girls have reached puberty and they consent and are given the right to an education if they choose.
In a lot of Asian cultures you’re a child till you reach puberty but then you’re a young adult, there’s no concept of teenagerness, young people in South and Central Asia are a LOT more mature than their peers in the West where we are still considered a baby till 16, 18 or 21, they laugh at British and American teenagers in Pakistan and Afghanistan and consider us too simple, incompetent and immature for our age.
Young marriages are common over there, my grandparents were both 13 and 15 when they married each other and my parents were both 18 so don’t judge other societies by what you are accustomed to because the norms of your society are not universal and what’s considered right or wrong by you is merely your opinion.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
How sad 
that girl had so much wishes, she’s so beautiful and innocent.. she could have a very handsome husband .. 
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
Smurf my Dadi was also about 14 when she married and my husband's Nani was 12 or almost 13. She had her first child between 13-14 years of age. So I agree that after puberty most girls are considered mature enough to be wives and mothers. But according to this article they're saying that due to poverty the girls were married off or given away. That their father's regretted having to marry them off so young but they had no other choice.
And bbung, I was neither lying, slandering or conjecturing. I'm not giving my opinion that I feel sons are worth more than daughters. But I'm saying that in Pathan, and Pakistani cultures, often sons are given more value than daughters. I should know, I'm both Pakistani and Pathan.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
You are "lying conjecturing **generalising **and slandering" hugely.
The pathans or pakistanis YOU live around and near maybe like that. That does NOT mean the rest are.
I know very well more than 10 cultures of pashtuns and pathans, and lived in them in my life.... who are NOT.
Thats why I say, you lie, but for those who you know about.
But YES, so many do.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
sad indeed.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
I think what's most disturbing isn't the age of the girl, but her age difference with her husband. Historically, a child was considered an adult once they reached puberty. So girls were adults around 11, 12, or 13, and were ready to be married. Boys a little later. I just find it gross that a 50 year old man would want to marry a 12 year old. If her husband was 16 or 17, I'd be okay with it.
Re: Child Brides In Afghanistan, My heart goes out for these innocent girls
No way? 30 years in prison if you have done that man.