Seeing your daughter walk down the aisle may perhaps be one of the happiest, most gratifying things a mother could ever witness. But what if your daughter is 12-years-old, and she’s marrying someone she does not love and is at least four decades older than her? How would you react?
Whichever emotion it may be, these passers by must have felt it when as they saw a suit-clad, middle-age man with her made-up, 12-year-old bride in a Lebanon.
The video, which depicts the odd-couple, has over 1.7 million views, and has since sparked an international outcry.
READ: Viral photo of man with his allegedly 11-year-old pregnant wife angers netizens
In certain middle-eastern countries the practice of marrying off girls to older men are acceptable. In the video, one man even approached the couple to offer his congratulations without any hint of irony.
Photo courtesy: KAFALebanon
“Is she yours,” he asked and, when the groom replies in the affirmative, nods and congratulates them.
Others passers by react with anger. One woman, for example, demands for the girls’ parents, shouting, “She’s 12! I was jogging but my feet froze when I saw her.”
Photo courtesy: KAFALebanon
Another bystander tells her off saying, “the law allows it.”
“What law?” she replies. “I am taking her with me. We are all going with her. How can I leave? She is like my daughter.”
Photo courtesy: KAFALebanon
Thankfully, it is all staged, produced by the charity KAFA to highlight the child bride issue in countries where it is legal to marry them off young.
Child brides
In Lebanon girls as young as 14 can marry without parental consent, and tribunals have granted special permission for nine-year-olds to marry. According to UNICEF, one in every hundred children are married off before they are 15, and based on their prediction these numbers are to increase.
READ: 12-year-old bride in Malaysia
A spike in early marriages could be seen in refugee camps across the Arab region. In the belief that they are giving their daughter a better and safer life, Syrian families marry their daughters off to older men.
How do you feel about this, moms? If your 12-year-old is forced to well before they reach a certain age, how would you handle the situation?
If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the topic, please share them in our Comment box below. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ to stay up-to-date on the latest from theAsianparent.com Philippines!