AMMAN — Despite efforts by
NGOs and activists, yearly, some
10 to 11 percent of marriages in the Kingdom involve minors, according to
Hadeel Abdel Aziz, founding member and Executive Director of the Justice Center
for Legal Aid.
اضافة اعلان
In 2018, the minimum marriage age was set at 18, with legal
exceptions being made for those aged 16–18.
Requests for exemption are made and “95 percent of the
requests get accepted”, Abdel Aziz told
Jordan News, “which, according to laws,
should get permission from a Sharia Court”.
Rola Sawalqah, associate professor of clinical and social
psychology, told
Jordan News that “the reasons for minors’ marriages vary from
one city to another, but poverty and unemployment are major factors.”
“In Amman, poverty is the main reason minors marry. It is a
serious factor from which several social problems arise,” she added.
“Many poor families encourage their minor daughters to get
married, for them to alleviate the economic burden. Also, traditions play an
essential role in some villages across the country on this issue,” she said.
Other factors that contribute to the rise of marriages among
minors are “the quality of education and the low levels of awareness”, Sawalqah
said.
To address the issue, she believes that “providing realistic
solutions would be much more efficient than imposing further laws or amending
legislation”.
“I was wearing my school uniform and carrying my schoolbag
when I went to the court to register my marriage contract,” said Yasmeen, an
alias, remembering her marriage at a young age.
“I was very happy and naïve. I thought it would be fun to be
a bride and put on a wedding dress,” she told
Jordan News.
“I lost my chance of having a proper education and marriage,
but now I am doing my best to protect my 18-year-old sister and my children,”
she told
Jordan News.
Yasmeen said that “the hard economic situation of her family
and the problems that her parents had were the main reasons she said yes to
marriage.”
According to
UNICEF, child marriages increased following the
influx of Syrian refugees into the Kingdom.
A recent UNICEF study on child marriage across the Middle
East and North Africa region shows that while rates of child marriage are in
steady decline, and have been below global averages, conflict in the region
threatens this progress.
The report warns that even national data showing low levels
of child marriage may mask much higher rates within sub-populations,
particularly those affected by conflict in the region. Data from Jordan
indicates that this is the case, with studies from UNICEF and the Higher
Population Council showing that the proportion of all registered Syrian
marriages in Jordan which include a child have risen from 12 percent in 2011,
to 34.6 percent in 2015. The proportion of marriages that include a child
across other groups in Jordan have remained fairly static.
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