Facebook Group against early marriage

SMN No. 2, May 24, 2010

Online activists have started a campaign against the marriage of underage girls in Syria.

The group “No to marrying little girls” was created in April to raise awareness about what it said was the common practice of Syrian girls being married against their will before they reach the age of 18.

The group has attracted more than 500 members so far. In its mission statement, it said the marriage of underage girls was a “crime” committed daily in Syria, preventing them from studying and depriving them of their right to choose and build a better future.

The group blamed the spread of the practice on the Syrian personal status law, which gives religious bodies the power to decide over issues related to marriage, and on the social values that condone the practice.

Although the Syrian personal status law sets the age of marriage at 17 for girls and 18 for boys, it gives judges the power to allow the marriages of 15-year-old boys and 13-year-old girls who have reached puberty.

A study released in May 2009 by the Syrian Committee for Family Affairs showed that nearly 18 per cent of Syrian married women got married before the age of 18.

For years, civil society activists have been pressing the government to enact new civil laws for marriage and divorce but to no avail.

Many members of the group praised the campaign against early marriage.

“The group is a great initiative to spread awareness about this issue,” one member said.

Another member criticised parents who marry their children off at an early age and said, “Some people let their daughters marry at 8, 12 or 16, when the girls are still too young and innocent.”

Some posts suggested that early marriages resulted in an increase in divorce in the country. “Most cases of divorce in our society happen following early marriages,” the member said, adding that it can also mean a person ends up without education or a job after they divorce.

Although most members were against the idea of early marriage, some argued against the minimum age suggested by the group’s administrator of 18, citing cultural values.

“My mother married at 17 and she is very happy since my father is a good man. The problem arises when girls are married before they reach the age of 15,” one female member wrote.

Some members went further in defending early marriage, arguing that “moral and religious” codes allow it. “I say the idea of this group is alien [to Syrian culture],” one member said.