Syrian mother's agony: why I made my teenage daughter become a child bride
"One of the many wretched consequences of the Syrian war is the sudden insecurity felt by millions of female refugees, deprived (sometimes permanently) of their menfolk, left to fend for their families by themselves, threatened by the unwanted attentions of predatory men.
A UN report this month found that almost 150,000 Syrian families are headed by lone women. Another this week pinpointed one of the unfortunate upshots of this: that more and more Syrian girls are being married off to bring a measure of security to their families.
Here, Mona Mahmood interviews three mothers who arranged pragmatic matches for their girls, only to regret it after the event.
Um Rulla
We left in February last year: me, my husband Ahmed and our seven children – two sons and five daughters. I borrowed 5,000 Syrian pounds (£20) from my mother to hire a car to drive us from our home in Deraa to the border with Jordan.
When we got to the borderlands, we had to walk with other Syrian families who were fleeing Syria too. We walked at night to avoid being spotted by Syrian security, who would shoot at us. It was so risky, but I was more scared of what would come next, what sort of life we would have in the refugee camp. Finally, we got into Zaatari camp, which was like paradise compared with the hell of Deraa. And yet I became worried about the safety of my five daughters. My husband is old and not well, and my sons are little boys. There is no one to protect us. The tents are too close to each other, young men would pass by and stare at our tent.
My eldest daughter, Rulla, was 13 and is attractive. She and her other sisters could not even change their clothes in the tent. We were so scared that my daughters and I might be attacked by strangers. The camp was full of men of different ages. I could not let my daughters go alone to the bathroom. I have, I had to take them one by one even though the bathrooms were far away. Along the way we would be harassed by young men. If any of my daughters wanted a wash, we would have a basin in the tent, and I or my mother would keep watch in case anyone came.Looking around I could see that families were trying to get their daughters married by any means, even if they were only 12 or 13. They were not asking for dowries, they just wanted a man for their daughters."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/syrian-mothers-child-brides
