(Frontpage) — The rate of child marriage is increasing exponentially in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and even some Muslim communities in the West. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child has warned Iran over the rise in child marriages and for allowing sex and execution at age 9.
Leila, 10 years old, thought she was playing a childhood game. A game that involved wearing a white dress and pretending to be a bride. But soon the game became a nightmare.
My mother, whose experience I wrote about in a book, had a similar story of how her marriage came to be. Leila’s story represents many children whose childhood comes to an end when they are forced into marriage.
Leila told Radio Farda of the Radio Free Europe: “It was nighttime and I was asleep. My neighbors rang the doorbell and came in and put a ring on my finger.”
She pointed out, “That’s how I got married…. I didn’t know what I was doing. I remember well, my hands were shaking.”
