http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=281993
Poverty-trap child brides! By BASMA MOHAMMED , Posted on ยป Sunday, July 11, 2010 NEEDY families in Bahrain and the Arab world are marrying off daughters as young as 10 in a bid to avoid falling into poverty, an activist has warned. Many often turn to such practices as a way of escaping their financial problems, said Bahrain Women's Association for Human Development head Asma'a Rajab. "The problem is witnessed in Bahrain and other countries in the region," she said during a seminar being held under the theme Women: A New Paradigm. "It's either due to the poor circumstances of the family or they not understanding Islam correctly." Ms Rajab stressed the cases involving child brides were actually marriages, as opposed to betrothal contracts. She was speaking on the sidelines of the final in a series of workshops held by the association and Al Tajdeed Cultural and Social Society. Yesterday's event, at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa, discussed early marriage and polygamy from a religious perspective. It was held as part of a major campaign launched by the association to educate people on women's issues. The drive hopes to highlight social problems and find new ways of addressing them, said Al Tajdeed Cultural and Social Society member and keynote speaker Isa Al Shargi. "These issues need to be addressed and calls for shedding of light on their causes and results," he said. "We need to educate the community and find ways to deal with their consequences." Mr Al Shargi stressed that misinterpretation of the Quran caused such issues to surface in the Islamic community. "Some people misinterpret verses in the Quran and follow their way of thinking," he said. "This campaign is to allow for everyone to discuss their understanding and explain the real meaning of such verses." The forum was set up to highlight problems connected to women's status and their ability to carry out their role as well as discuss religious views, particularly new ideas related to women and family. It also aimed to highlight the main obstacles to women being granted their rights and come up with solutions to controversial issues related to them. Topics discussed in previous forums included discrimination against women, combating violence against women and women's rights to housing, alimony and custody. ba...@gdn.com.bh [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
