Nice post Cesar. What happens to the girl now? Her family is possibly not a great place for her given they didn't want to help her at first, and they now have an additional financial burden to bear. Truly ugly.
It appears my terminology is under fire. That's a reasonable argument. Instead of saying "end a society or culture" I should probably say "end an element of a society or culture". And yes, this would apply to any culture. Anyone familiar with my rants regarding petty american "values" should understand that I am not ethnocentric in any respect. I deplore anything that contradicts my convictions regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I guess I am confused as to what you mean by "ill-informed commentary" then. Bad terminology. I addressed this in a previous post. Huh? First you understand what I'm getting at, but now I'm overreacting? It is simple. Arranged marrage is bad. So is rape. So is a culture that degrades women. End of story. A non-issue? The article says this happens to 1000s of girls. I'd say that's a bit of an issue.
Yemen is dirt poor, on par with a lot of African states in terms of poverty. Life in Yemen (with its rough terrain) is probably closer to tribal life in Afghanistan. It's a shame too, Yemenis used to be known as successful traders/businessmen and were one of the wealthiest peoples in the world dating back to pre-Islamic Arabia.
A 'non-issue' in terms of its legality. Obviously a major issue in terms of involving children in sex trade, and using the label 'marriage' doesn't make it any less so.
My understanding is that that had much to do with their proximity for Africa-Far East trade. The particular advantage that existed in a slower, insular, low-tech world no longer exists.
So the rapist gets $ 250 as "compensation". That pretty much says it all about their ass-backwards Islamic society and legal system.
In the earlier days of Islam, it was more north-south across Al-Hijaz (that's the western part of modern Saudi Arabia); Muhammad himself took part in many of them. Quraish -- the largest tribe in Mecca -- profited greatly from all the Yemeni traders that traveled through Mecca on their way to the Levant/Persia. They also had a lot of trade with the Habashis in Ethiopia, so Yemen was a natural 'transit' point I guess. So to answer your question, yes their strategic location undoubtedly had a lot to do with it, but they were also reputed to be some of the most shrewd businessmen around, and that was the case until relatively recently in the peninsula. In fact, back in the day when I was there they used to dominate Jeddah's business districts, but as relations with Saudis soured so did their business relations and the large Yemeni community in Jeddah started to dwindle. I admit I need to brush up a bit on my Yemen history. It's been a while, Ottomaton
No, this was really the first time I had heard of the site. I make a habit of reading news, and paying attention to the facts presented in those news. Rather than trying to attack the source, try to focus on what happened: an 8 year old girl was repeatedly raped and abused by a man, and as part of the Islamic culture, religion and society in that country, the man got $ 250 "compensation" for her being taken away from him.
