Child Abuse // Current

U.S. Confirms: Gitmo Held 12 Juveniles

The U.S. has revised its count of juveniles ever held at Guantanamo Bay to 12, up from the eight it reported in May to the United... more

Apocalipstick
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How would you have kept Baby P alive?

Baby P was killed despite more that 60 Social Service visits. How can this happen? Something went seriously wrong with the... more

Danobi
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Baby P's sister ‘was also abused’

It has now emerged that Baby P’s sister was also allegedly subjected to serious abuse. Legal restrictions prevent further... more

TravG73
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Jackson gives up Neverland ranch

Pop star Michael Jackson has lost ownership of his Neverland ranch in California after transferring the deeds to a company he has... more

BuddyP
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Scars of abuse hidden with smeared chocolate

Baby P's face is smeared with chocolate by his mother to hide the bruising from beatings

TravG73
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Britain in shock over abuse death of toddler

The toddler had been visited 60 times by social workers. A doctor examined him but missed the fact he had a broken back and eight... more

TravG73
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Mom and the reward

Schoolgirl Shannon Matthews was drugged and probably kept captive on a leash in a "wicked" plot hatched by her mother... more

TravG73
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New Jersey Mom, 55, Had Sex With Son's Friend, 15

Josette M. Taylor, 53-year-old mother from Morris Township, New Jersey, has admitted having sex with her son's 15-year-old... more

b2r
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Forced To Marry Family Member

While we have started to examine this issue, the focus has primarily been on the girl/woman's part. this article from the... more

doithengiaorg
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11 year old bride and 40 year old groom

He’s forty, she’s eleven. And they are a couple – the Afghan man Mohammed F.* and the child Ghulam H.*. “We needed the money”, Ghulam’s parents said. Faiz claims he is going to send her to school. But the women of Damarda village in Afghanistan’s Ghor province know better: “Our men don’t want educated women.” They predict that Ghulam will be married within a few weeks after her engagement in 2006, so as to bear children for Faiz.

During her stay in Afghanistan, it consistently struck American photographer Stephanie Sinclair how many young girls are married to much older men. She decided to raise awareness about this topic with her pictures. Particularly as the official minimum age for brides in Afghanistan is sixteen and it is therefore illegal to marry children.

Early marriages are not only a problem in Afghanistan: worldwide there are about 51 million girls aged between 15 and 19 years who are forced into marriage. The youngest brides live in the Indian state of Rajasthan, where 15% of all wives are not even 10 years old when they are married. Child marriages are a reaction to extreme poverty and mainly take place in Asian and African regions where poor families see their daughters as a burden and as second-class citizens. Already in their younger years, girls are given into the “care” of a husband, a tradition that often leads to exploitation. Many girls become victims of domestic violence. In an Egyptian survey, about one-third of the interviewed child brides stated that they were beaten by their husbands. The young brides are under pressure to prove their fertility as soon as possible. But the risk for girls between the ages of 10 and 14 not to survive pregnancy is five times higher than for adult women. Every year, about 150,000 pregnant teenagers die due to complications – in particular due to a lack of medical care, let alone sex education.

For her project, Stephanie Sinclair also traveled to Nepal and Ethiopia. She wants to do research on the topic of child marriage in other regions as well and then publish a book on the issue.

Photo: Stephanie Sinclair, USA, Freeleance PhotographerHe’s forty, she’s eleven. And they are a couple – the Afghan man Mohammed F.* and the child Ghulam H.*.... more

doithengiaorg
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12 responses

8 days ago

'Child-witches' of Nigeria seek refuge

Children from Crarn accused of being witches and wizards, protesting outside the Governor's headquarters. Photo: Mags Gavan,... more

Vierotchka
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33 responses

9 days ago

Woman who cut off baby's arms to be released

A woman who killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms with a kitchen knife is being released from the state mental... more

DeliaTheArtist
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4 responses

11 days ago

America Continues Blind Eye To Cultural Pedophilia

An eight year old second grader in Yemen took her father to court for forcing her to marry a man 22 years her senior. The couple had been married for two months and the young girl asked for a divorce based on sexual and domestic abuse. This case was settled, but without punishment for the husband or change to Yemeni Islamic laws.

The girl was forced to marry the older man after her father beat her repeatedly. The youngster asked other family members to help her but none would. They told her to go court by herself.

“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” said the 8 year old.

Her husband admits to the acts of pedophilia. “Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said. "But if the judge or other people insist that I divorce her, I will do it, it’s ok.” While the husband is temporarily in jail, neither the father nor the husband has committed a crime under Yemeni law.

Shatha Ali Nasser, a lawyer in the Supreme Court, referred to item number 15 in the Yemeni civil code which reads that “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." This item was changed in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature.

"I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school," the young girl said when she left court. The marriage was terminated (instead of a divorce) which will not allow the husband to try to reinstate the marriage. According to Reuters, the husband, will receive $250 in compensation from the child's family because of the marriage termination.

A 2006 study conducted by the Woman and Development Study Center, established an age comparison between spouses in their first marriage through three generations. It disclosed that marriage age raised gradually from an average of 10.24 years to 14.70 years for women and from 20.97 to 21.54 years for men. The study revealed that girls in Hodeidah and Hadramout regions married at the average age of eight, while in Mukalla the average age was 10.

According to the Yemen Times the Yemeni Parliament, through its Evaluation and Jurisprudence Committee, rejected a request to amend the personal status law presented by the Women’s National Committee. Women’s movements and civil society in Yemen along with 61 Parliament members have advocated a law that legislates a minimum marriage age of 18 for both males and females. However, the Jurisprudence Committee claims there are no legislative grounds to impose such a law based on its understanding of Islam.

This incident is not isolated as we discussed in Missing Children May Be Tip Of Worldwide Human Rights Crisis. All those for Sharia law, raise your hands.An eight year old second grader in Yemen took her father to court for forcing her to marry a man 22 years her senior. The couple... more

doithengiaorg
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6 responses

11 days ago

That Person Calling You on Behalf of John McCcain - Shadegg Just Might Be a Perv

That Person Calling You on Behalf of John Shadegg Just Might Be a Perv
Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 10:14:42 AM

By Sarah Fenske

This just in: Congressman John Shadegg's campaign appears to be using some pretty shady surrogates.

And no, I'm not talking about Shadegg's fellow Republican congressman, Rick Renzi, who's awaiting trial on a host of felony counts. Or former Arizona Attorney General (and fellow Republican) Jack LaSota, who's apparently making big bucks making robo-calls on behalf of payday lenders.

Nope, when it comes to connecting you with shady people, Congressman Shadegg's campaign takes the cake: They're apparently using felons and at least one sex offender to work the phone banks.

Ewww.

As first reported on the Politico Web site, the Shadegg campaign has paid at least three men with dubious pasts to work its phone banks. One guy, records suggest, did two years in the Arizona Department of Corrections for vehicle theft and burglary. Another did nearly four years for burglary. And the third phone bank worker may well be the creepiest: This 24-year-old male is a registered sex offender who had "sexal contact with a minor," according to the state's registry. The state labels him an "intermediate" risk.

Normally, we don't get too worked up about the whole a-sex-offender-just-moved-into-my-neighborhood thing. But this is a little different. Phone bank workers presumably have access to both the names and addresses of the registered voters that they're dialing. And, naturally, if a kid picks up the phone, their first question ought to be, "Are your parents home?"

Really, don't you think anybody with access to this information -- much less the reelection campaign of a sitting congressman -- ought to be a little careful with it?

I called the Shadegg campaign for comment, but hadn't heard back by press time. This isn't exactly unusual. I've been trying, on and off, to reach them for the last two weeks for this or that and have yet to get a call back for anything. Kind of frustrating -- especially since Shadegg is, by all accounts, facing the toughest challenge of his political career from Democratic attorney Bob Lord. The Dems are throwing a ton of money into this race -- unseating the reliably conservative Shadegg has become a major lefty cause.

In times like these, you'd think we could get a call back -- or at least minimal screening over at campaign headquarters. Think maybe they've been a little distracted?
That Person Calling You on Behalf of John Shadegg Just Might Be a Perv Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 10:14:42 AM By Sarah Fenske This... more