Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
14-year-old "bride," in childbirth
33 views
Skip to first unread message
Lenona
Aug 10, 2021, 12:32:11 AM8/10/21
to
What's strange is that her parents don't seem to be charged with anything, when they were almost certainly complicit.
The U.N. is getting involved.
https://www.newsweek.com/girl-14-dies-giving-birth-church-shrine-1617359
By Samantha Lock
The death of a 14-year-old girl during childbirth at a church shrine in Zimbabwe has reignited debate surrounding child marriage and child sexual abuse in the African nation.
Memory Machaya was reportedly raped, denied medical treatment and forced out of school before giving birth last month at an Apostolic church in the eastern region of Marange.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police said it would be conducting an investigation into the death and has "taken note of print and social media reports" in a statement issued on Friday....
The U.N. is getting involved.
https://www.newsweek.com/girl-14-dies-giving-birth-church-shrine-1617359
By Samantha Lock
The death of a 14-year-old girl during childbirth at a church shrine in Zimbabwe has reignited debate surrounding child marriage and child sexual abuse in the African nation.
Memory Machaya was reportedly raped, denied medical treatment and forced out of school before giving birth last month at an Apostolic church in the eastern region of Marange.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police said it would be conducting an investigation into the death and has "taken note of print and social media reports" in a statement issued on Friday....
Lenona
Aug 10, 2021, 12:35:23 AM8/10/21
to
https://www.voanews.com/africa/un-rights-groups-push-zimbabwe-prosecute-man-who-married-14-year-old-girl
https://www.change.org/p/commissioner-general-zimbabwe-republic-police-stop-the-rape-of-children-in-the-name-of-religion
(Petition - this has a photo of her)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/08/un-condemns-child-marriage-zimbabwe-girl-dies-after-giving-birth
https://www.change.org/p/commissioner-general-zimbabwe-republic-police-stop-the-rape-of-children-in-the-name-of-religion
(Petition - this has a photo of her)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/08/un-condemns-child-marriage-zimbabwe-girl-dies-after-giving-birth
Adam H. Kerman
Aug 10, 2021, 9:04:19 AM8/10/21
to
irrelevant and therefore a distraction. It's not "marriage" if she
were forced into it as she had to be able to freely enter into the
contract. It's the series of violent crimes that were perpetrated upon
her. "Debate" is argument and counter-argument. What argument can there
possibly be?
Why cannot journalists just write a story about a terrible crime without
embellishment that there is some sort of controversy here?
Lenona
Aug 10, 2021, 10:47:22 AM8/10/21
to
On Tuesday, August 10, 2021 at 9:04:19 AM UTC-4, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>
> Why is there a debate, exactly? The marriage, in and of itself, is
> irrelevant and therefore a distraction. It's not "marriage" if she
> were forced into it as she had to be able to freely enter into the
> contract. It's the series of violent crimes that were perpetrated upon
> her. "Debate" is argument and counter-argument. What argument can there
> possibly be?
>
> Why cannot journalists just write a story about a terrible crime without
> embellishment that there is some sort of controversy here?
I didn't read every article, but it's likely a safe bet that, while it's illegal in Zimbabwe to marry before 18, there are compelling reasons that so many (1 in 3) parents of girls think they're doing them a big favor by forcing them to marry much earlier, even though teen pregnancy is seriously dangerous even in First World countries. So, the officials can't just ignore that mindset when they try to enforce the law.
>
> Why is there a debate, exactly? The marriage, in and of itself, is
> irrelevant and therefore a distraction. It's not "marriage" if she
> were forced into it as she had to be able to freely enter into the
> contract. It's the series of violent crimes that were perpetrated upon
> her. "Debate" is argument and counter-argument. What argument can there
> possibly be?
>
> Why cannot journalists just write a story about a terrible crime without
> embellishment that there is some sort of controversy here?
As in, if a girl has consensual premarital sex with a peer, she's then ruined for life, even if she DOESN'T get pregnant. Or, if she's raped, even by a stranger twice her size, she's still considered unmarriageable. In societies like that, unmarried women are likely seen as little more than burdens.
0 new messages