Manama: A women's rights activist has urged the justice minister not to bow to pressure from religious figures and reverse his decision to set a minimum marriage age.
"Unfortunately, the minister's bold and wise decision was as expected rejected by the religious scholars who were afraid it would limit their powers," Lamees Dhaif yesterday told Gulf News.
The minister last week set the minimum marriage age for girls at 15 and boys at 18. But the historic decision was immediately condemned by religious figures who accused the official of violating Islamic teachings.
"The religious men's reactions were ridiculous and senseless. There were those who said the decision was a prelude to enact the family law, those who said that the Prophet married a girl who is young which means that the minister knows better than God's messenger and those who said that the minister was targeting Islam.
"For those who sought to ridicule the minister I wish to point out cases in Bahrain whereby a father married off his 14-year-old daughter to his 55-year-old boss, and that of the 85-year-old man who married a girl who was only 15."
According to Lamees, in the past, women's only responsibilities were to get married and have children.
"Today, we have a vastly different situation, and young girls need to further their education and to get a job before getting married. An early marriage simply kills the opportunity for girls to have decent lives," she said.
