Nadine Fletcher 1/23/18 Class D a,b,c,d,e) For this assignment I chose my article from CNN, which was published on January 22nd 2018. The article “She’s only 12 but her father is already planning her wedding” by Hakim Almasmari and Sarah El Sirgany, is about a 12 year old girl named Halima who’s father is trying to plan her wedding. Halima, a bright 5th grader with dreams of becoming a doctor, is just one of the many struggling young girls that are firmly agaisnt marriage at their age. f ) In the article Halima describes her life, how many of her friends have already dropped out of school due to their marriages to older men. We hear from Halima’s sister Kafa who wasn’t able to avoid her marriage at the age of 13, she explains that if she had the choice she would have finished school and gotten and education, that there was nothing for her in a marriage as a child. Being Halima’s older sister and having been married since she was 13, now 17, she shares with her younger sister many cautionary tales and things that she has learned since her wedding so long ago. She tells of each painful childbirthing expeirence and the after effects. We also hear from Kafa and Halima’s father, Abdullah, who is just one of the many fathers that marry their daughters to be relieved of the cost of their care. Many fathers like Abdullah receive a dowry for the cost of their daughters which helps in paying for food, healthcare and other necesities or to pay off debts. Through Abdullah has told Kafa that he regrets marrying her off at such a young age, it doesn’t stop him from planning Halima’s marriage. g,h)This event took place in Sanaa, Yemen, a place where child marriages are normalized. This event is currently taking place. i) From what I have gathered this event, Halima’s marriage, is taking place because the father, Abdullah, is in need of money. If he were to marry Halima off he would in turn recieve money from the suitor, as he did with Kafa, the sister, whom he got 2,000 for. The money that he will get for Halima will go to taking care of the rest of family. This seems to be the cause for a lot of child marriages in Yemen, fathers who work as poor laborers can’t afford to take care of themselves or their family, so they sell their daughters for money. j) To me this is like some twisted trade, like the young girls there are materials to sell to anybody. It’s uncomfortable to think about a girl 3 years younger than me who is already being prepped for a forced marriage. I think that more there should be more attention on subjects such as this one, more people should know about what these young girls are going through and something should be done. m) I will comment on Anil Kraft and Mercede Davis's blog posts l) This is a picture of Halima and her father Abdullah
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