Yemeni girl, 12, dies in painful childbirth

Disgusting and disturbing.

Islam teaches you to cherish your women and children, and respecting them would NOT violate Sharia. Articles posed like this con volute the truth and make Islam the enemy because of things that are not Muslim characteristics. I feel terrible for these children and for the families that feel like they have to put their children through this. But nothing will happen if the men are never charged, and creating a law would be the first step, enacting would be a second. At least they are considering it, which IS progress.

I'm not sure you can compare those four examples with the centers of Shia and Sunni and a nuclear power. And Indonesia, you must not be counting Aceh province.

"Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Things that make you go hmmm."

Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Turkey, Indonesia...

Why is this legal?

I have a really novel idea! Let's leave. It's so simple, get out of the Middle East.
They have been doing what they do for thousands of years and very obviously don't want to change from what they know works to ideas that must seem stupid to them.
These guys are NOT breaking any laws and I half suspect little boys get the same treatment as little girls but we don't hear about it.
Would we care if it weren't for their oil? Jimmy Carter started us down the road to energy independence in the 70's but he got politically destroyed and so did energy reform. Maybe now might be a good time to rethink alternate energy and lots of conservation.
Then again, what the hell do I know?

As it's been since the dawn of time in mant cultures, girls are here for the pleasure of men, to be used in any way without regard for their well being. Some things never change...

What kind of man pleasures himself with a child? Only the worst kind...........

I'm sickened and saddened beyond belief...

Poor little child. And the man probably doesn't even see what he's done, just considers it his right.....

How horrible.

The poverty here is the poverty of human rights for women and female children. The Amin's control the laws and who gets the wealth. These countries rake in large amounts of money for their resourse sales which could and should be used to better the peoples lives but the religious leaders want to stay in the dark ages of human rights because when everyone can rightfully choose progress it will end the life style the Amins want to keep.

Don't use this as another excuse to hate Muslims. In many conservative cultures, a girl is considered marriagable when she reaches puberty. This is tragic, but it's almost entirely exclusive to conservative areas like Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and so on. There are 1.3 Billion Muslims worldwide, as I've said time and time again, and most of them do not marry twelve year olds.

So very many of us are totally outraged by this terribly tragic story. Will we keep our mouths shut because of "polically correct" language and writing?
However, how many have the guts to see into this and realize that this unfortunate horror story is DIRECTLY connected to culture, a certain religious practrice and ignorance. How many in this world suffer from poverty and yet they do not die while giving birth at age 12? ......Billions.
There is no one named "poverty." This is not poverty's fault.
Most of us know exactly, yes, EXACTLY why this happened.

Yemen is Al-Qaeda central, too. It’s the same place to which we’ve released former Gitmo terrorists. Yes, it’s paradise for them: 11-year-old brides, 12-year-old mothers of their children, and all the Al-Qaeda brothers you’d ever want to know.

Yup, this is the “peacefulness” of the “Religion of Peace” we keep hearing about. It’s also the “modesty” that Muslims claim they require above all other religions. . . all other religions that don’t force girls to be married at age eight and moths at age eleven.

legal pedophiles...well said

Why did her Catholic priest allow this?
Why did her pastor allow this?
Why did her rabbi allow this?
Why did her monk allow this?
Why did her guru allow this?
WHY DID HER IMAM ALLOW THIS?
So, jh64487, why did the Zionists do this to her?
Why did the Jews do this to her?
bin laden, hero of humanity just said yesterday that everything is because of the Jews.
Surely you are not against bin laden, humanity's gift from ala?
Could this possibly have to do with, pedophilia?
Is there a culture which allows and even encourages pedophilia?
Huh?

Wouldn't it be interesting if Mormons had their own country? It'd be polygamy galore, and I doubt they've have a minimum age.
Or how about if Jehova Witnesses had their own country? Every girl caught having sex before marriage forced to testify in front of a panel of elders who'd like to hear every detail of what she did with her male partner.
(Would a gay country stand for heterosexual marriages or settle for heterosexual civil unions?)
All kidding aside, what happened in Yemen is straight out pedophilia.
But these folks have this attitude of "If the West doesn't like what we're doing then it must be a good thing."
What a bunch of nincompoops, I swear.

WOW!!! Welcome to the rest of the world. From the tone of the outrage I must believe this is the 1st some of you have heard of this.
Anybody know about when Western society decided against child brides? The legal marriageable age in some Southern states is what?
Anybody wonder how old Mary was when she had Jesus? Was the Holy Ghost a pedophile?
Some African societies still perform clitorectomies on their kids, believe aids can be cured by sex with a virgin and that condoms are a Democratic plot.
Some Americans don't want us to help other countries with information or birth control except abstinence. They don't seem to give 2 shits about the consequences, like this story. Would anybody care if the girl had survived?
Is anyone aware that girls are not valued in poor countries?
I just wondered.

Said one doctor: "The case of Fawziya illustrates the tragedy of those whom we call 'the brides of death', who are little girls...."

That makes Muhammad's wife Aisha one of those "brides of death" herself. And he set the disastrous precedent -- as a "beautiful pattern of conduct," per Qur'an 33:21 -- that leads to cases like this. That is the ultimate reason that child marriage has persisted so stubbornly across the Islamic world.

It's not Islamic law, it's Islamic stupidity

this is just horrible and should never happen again :(

This is horrible...the people shouldn't have to suffer due to the unfair laws, serious changes need to be made.

Even sociopathec corporate culture would consider this "poor personnel resource management". And corporations have no souls,....(make that "superegos" for the devout atheists in our midst)

Islamic law, huh? It's interesting, there's several large billboards that have gone up lately around the Bay Area promoting, in large letters, "Why Islam?" and a phone number to call for info. Should really read, "Why Islam, why?" Let's give them a call and find out why.

Even though Yemen has elected officials the laws of the land are Sharia and therefore made by the male dominant religion and the male religious leaders.
Women are property to do with as the husband pleases.
It amazes me that this child was eventually taken to the hospital, most likely because the husband wanted to save the baby not the expendable, easily replaceable young wife......
Such a sad situation, to feel her life is worth very little and her husband is the almighty man and worth so much more than her.
Native American Shawnee's revere their women because they make and bring forth new life.....

My youngest sister is 12 and at that age she is no where near ready for the responsibilities that I at 24 am ready and excited to take on. This is soo horrible. I hope and pray for the eyes of the government to be opened so that they can see that things need to change. Children should be allowed to be children. :(

This hurts my heart.....

Another case of state and religious sanctioned Islamic pedophilia. Tragic. Bin Laden married a 15 year old Yemeni girl.

Nothing but legal pedophiles. Nice belief system. And they say morals aren't possible without religion...sigh.

this is why forced marrige sucks!

@ acontradiction

i agree, so lets send our millitary over there to inflict freedom and capatalism on them in the form of laser guided missles and depleted uranium. that'll make em convert to christianity!

(end sarcasm)

I wonder how long until this thread turns into a pro-choice/pro-life debate.

I understand that sometimes people don't want to get involved in other countries and impose our ideas onto their cultures, but children like this girl didn't ask to be born into societies so ignorant and blindly loyal to a religion as to allow this to happen. It's not fair that the governing body of the country thinks that upholding an ancient and fucking irrational religious law is more important than establishing a minimum age of marriage to prevent rape and essential murder such as cases like these.

My little cousin is 12. It's hard to see this. Even though she's a friggin whore and having sex on her own will already... that's besides the point. Someone needs to fix this. But the only ones who can change it completely is themselves! But those type of people are never willing to compromise.

more than horrifying...these are the things that truly disgust me!

i don't understand how anyone can do these things and feel decent about themselves.

honestly, this is something that makes me feel horrible about being human with the things we can do to other humans and EVERY other living thing.

It's pretty sad that stuff like this still happens in the world these days,but what some Americans might think as far-fetched and morally wrong,is totally okay in other countries because that's just how their culture is.

Yemen is a part of the United Nations. This is where the UN needs to draw the line and step in, because obviously young girls (even ten years old?! come the fuck on) do not have the maturity to successfully marry and start a family. Most girls that age don't even menstruate! On the other hand, how can a grown man beat a mere child? I cannot believe that modern science and medicine have not even shadowed these people's mind with some kind of thought like, "hey, this kid was in diapers when I was a teenager. I probably shouldn't impregnate her." And shame on the parents for wanting to get rid of their child. If you can't handle a child, don't have one. Disgusting.

This story makes me cry. There is a time in a woman's life when she is ready to have children, but that age is not 10 or 12. Those girls deserved a better life, not one that ended too soon in childbirth when they themselves were still children. I understand the issue between shari'a and contemporary standards for age at marriage, but I can still cry on their behalf and wish that other young girls are saved from their fate.

This is horrible news! Her act of courage, escaping her "husband" knowing she needed to be out of the forced marriage situation still did not set her free.

RIP little ones...

I agree, humans can be quite vile and hurtful. But it is not just in this region. What about Jaycee in the compound in Antioch?

This is a worldwide problem, rights of women need to be recognized and upheld in virtually every part. No one place is devoid of gender conflict.

This is very tragic. I hope their judicial system can recognize a necessity for a minimum age.

so goes the ways of the world outside the U.S.

A sad reality, and something that the people of this region have been dealing with for 1000's of years,....not just recently

Neanderthals!!!

two children are lost due to stupidity.

This shouldn't happen; ever. :(

Horrific, twisted, godforsaken....and passing as normal in some countries.

How tragic.

poor all of them.

poverty...sucks.

poor baby. both of them.