[14/April/2008]

SANA'A, April 14 (Saba) - The Women National Committee (WNC) urged on Monday legislative and executive authorities to make amendments on law of the personal affairs to ban marriage under 18 years old.

The WNC call comes after publishing a story of eight year-old, Nojoud Nasser who went to the Sana'a West Court to prosecute her father for making her marry a 30-year-old-man.

The committee condemned such marriage, wondering about behavior of the girl's family to make her marry in this age, as they know already their daughter could not shoulder burdens of the marriage life.

A 2006 field study revealed that child marriage among Yemeni girls reached 52.1%, compared to 6.7% among males.

The study, conducted by the Woman and Development Study Center, affiliated to Sana'a University, looked at 1,495 couples, concluding that there is a huge age gap between the spouses.

AH/AH


Saba