Mosque preachers are trained on children rights

A nine years old kid sells garlic in the streets to feed his family.

Yemen is one of the world’s least developed countries, and remains the poorest and most rural country in the Middle East, ranking 148 out of 174 countries on the Human Development Index. At present, 60 percent of the population of 19 million is children. 

These children are the best hope for the future, but in fact many Yemeni children live in bad conditions and suffer from all manner of hardships and afflictions. Child labor and marriage, disease and begging are distressingly commonplace. 

Organizations working for human rights and the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights are leading the fight for Yemeni children.  Last week, the Ministry of Human Rights and the Sweden Organization for Children held a workshop to educate mosque preachers about children’s rights. 

“Mosque preachers know the most about Islam and its instructions. They know what is best for human beings,” said Huda al-Ban, Minister of Human Rights. “The aim of this workshop is to protect children from violence, and that will be done through preaching. We want an Islamic voice to educate people about the importance of healthy children.” 

Al-Ban said that mosques are an ideal place to promote a message and inform people. She said that Islam always cares about children even before they are born.

“Islam orders every person to be careful when choosing his or her partner. Thus, children will have good parents who will bring them up in a good way. Also, Islam orders mothers to breast-feed their children until at least 2 years of age.” “Islam forbids violence against animals and humans. A story familiar to Muslims is about a religious woman whose prayers and donations were refused. The woman had chained and starved her cat. Thus, her worship was not accepted,” stated al-Ban. She wondered if a child, who is the symbol of innocence, is subject to such aggression.

Al-Ban said that a child is very vulnerable to social influences, which they soak up like a sponge. “A child who is exposed to hostility will be psychologically damaged. Many studies prove that violence against children results in anger, fear and lack of confidence which will force them to leave home for the streets and sink into a cycle of anti-social behaviour.”

“Children personalities are still developing. Al-Ban called on mosque preachers to double their duties in educating people about the importance of protecting children in Islam and how violence would force them to take bad paths in life. 

“I think that mosques preachers have great influence on people. People may ignore international studies about abstract children’s right, but they do obey their preacher.” The manager of Sweden Organization for children of Yemen, Walid al-Basheer, talked about childrenS right and said that laws give children their rights. “Children constitute half of the population and nobody is outside the law. If we manage to improve children’s condition in Yemen, we are going to improve half of the population.”

“The role played by mosque preachers is very effective and influential. Preachers and scientists come in second rank after prophets in Islam. People believe more in preachers than anything else,” added al-Basheer. 

Al-Basheer said that a person who is under the age of 18 is considered a child according to children contract, which protects them and gives them the right to feel safe.”

An official of the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs, Hamoud Ali, attended the workshop and talked about how Islam guaranteed children’s rights long ago. “Islam cares about children more than any contracts set by organizations. 

Ali said that Islam orders pregnant women to take care of themselves in order to give birth to children in a healthy way. “Islam gives mothers rights in the sake of children. For instance, if a mother got divorced, she has the right to have the child with her and force the husband to give her money for her child so that she can provide for him.”

“Also, Islam orders parents to treat their children as equals; not to discriminate or psychologically hurt them. It asks parents to bring their children up in a good way because they are the future of the countries; they will be ministers, teachers and doctors,” added Ali.  

“The child is always the victim of the family and community. They are the weakests members of society and have few avenues for seeking justice. Violence against children normally comes from other family members, who punish them cruelly,” said Shatha Nasser, a lawyer. She said that there are many reasons behind violence against children such as divorce.         

“Some fathers take their revenge out on their children, including dishing out beatings and accusing the child of being illegitimate. Fathers sometimes try to get rid of that child. Also,  a stepfather may do the same thing to his wife’ children. They beat them and in some cases they rap the child. When the mother tries to ask the police to help her, the husband threatens her, so she prefers to remain silent,” stated Nasser. 

Divorce rates in Yemen have been rising over the last few years, at the same time that arranged marriages have allegedly been increasing. Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that in 2005, 3,260 marriages out of 48,085 ended in divorce. These numbers are up from 2004, when there were only 1,217 divorces out of 36,165 marriages, and also from 2003, when there were 1,457 divorces out of 27,244 marriages. 

Nasser said that early marriage is another cause of violence, and it is known that Yemeni girls are getting married earlier, causing many social and health problems. 

While the legal age for marriage for both girls and boys under article 15 of the Personal Status Act is 15 years old, in practice, the marriage of girls as young as 12 has been reported and child marriages are common in rural areas. The Yemen Women National Committee states that early marriage is considered among the social phenomena that prevail in Yemen. Other statistical evidence suggests that in practice, the median age of marriage for girls in urban areas is 17.6 years while for those in rural areas it is 15.9. The 1997 Demographic and Maternal and Child Health Survey found that over a quarter of respondents felt that 15 was an ideal age for girls to marry. 

The phenomenon of early marriage is highly gendered as surveys have shown that in spite of the fact that boys are also legally permitted to be married at 15, the median age of marriage for men is around 4 years later than it is for girls. In many societies where early marriage is common, there is a feeling that it is better for girls to marry before they lose their virginity and, thereby, their “honor” and there is thus a strong connection between early marriage and gendered codes of social behavior which emphasize control of female sexuality. 

The provisions in the Personal Status Act concerning the minimum age for marriage are clearly contrary to article 23 (3) of the ICCPR, article 2 of the CRC and article 16 of the CEDAW, and they render girls vulnerable to violence. It should be noted that early marriage may lead to childhood or teenage pregnancy and that in Yemen; the high level of fertility (on average 6.2 births per woman) is undoubtedly a direct consequence of early marriage. Childbearing during early or middle adolescence, before girls are biologically and psychologically mature, is associated with adverse health outcomes for both the mother and child. 

Almortadha’ al-Mahtori, a doctor at Sana’a University, said that there are many streets children and abandoned children who are badly abused. “Before Islam born girls were buried while they were still alive because people at that time were afraid of shame that would be brought by girls. But Islam forbids buried alive girls. Though, the toughness of people of that time, we did not hear that a child died while his father was raping him as it is heard now.”

“These days there are many reasons behind violence against children. When a person gets married while he is not ready to take the responsibility of the family, his children will live terrible life. They wont meet their simple needs such as food and health services. Moreover, the bad state of minds when they see their peers enjoy their lives with their needs while they are in the need of food,” added al-Mahtori.

“Islam talks about children rights before human rights bodies talk about it. Prophet Mohammed said that if a person is not able to get married should not get married because if he does so, children will be the victim. It also advises the woman if they find suitable and religious man not to hesitate to get married to him because he will help her to bring up their children in a good way,” stated al-Mahtori.  

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