(BBC News, June 07, 2011"I wanted to get an education but my parents were determined to marry me off," says Himanot Yehewala, an Ethiopian girl who was married five years ago at the age of 13. "I tried to run away but my mother said she would kill herself if I did not marry him." "I was not mature physically or emotionally so it was not easy for me to go and sleep with my husband."
She had never met her bridegroom, 18-year-old Gedefaw Mengistu, before their wedding day. In one case the husband was eight and the supposed wife was seven. I mean you want to say it's abominable” Desmond Tutu Archbishop emeritus "I knew she was too young. I was in grade five but my father died and I was forced to stop school, get married and keep the family going," Mr Gedefaw told the BBC.
The couple live in Ethiopia's Amhara Region - an impoverished rural farming area where half of all girls are married before they turn 15. "It's quite shattering to have met people who were married off," Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the BBC on a visit to the area.
"In one case the husband was eight and the supposed wife was seven. I mean you want to say it's abominable," he said. The South African Nobel Peace Prize winner may have recently announced his retirement from public life but he is out fighting injustice again as one of the Elders - the group of eminent global leaders brought together by South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela.
"I wasn't aware of the extent of the problem - and it is just fantastic that things are taking a turn for the better and incredibly so," he said. The archbishop was referring to the impact of government-led programmes in several dozen villages in the region which focus on delaying marriage. Read more from BBC »
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Ethiopian village fights against female circumcision
Fighting child marriage in Ethiopia
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New Equal Opportunity Law for Ethiopians
Archbishop Tutu fights against child marriage in Ethiopia
She had never met her bridegroom, 18-year-old Gedefaw Mengistu, before their wedding day. In one case the husband was eight and the supposed wife was seven. I mean you want to say it's abominable” Desmond Tutu Archbishop emeritus "I knew she was too young. I was in grade five but my father died and I was forced to stop school, get married and keep the family going," Mr Gedefaw told the BBC.
"In one case the husband was eight and the supposed wife was seven. I mean you want to say it's abominable," he said. The South African Nobel Peace Prize winner may have recently announced his retirement from public life but he is out fighting injustice again as one of the Elders - the group of eminent global leaders brought together by South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela.
"I wasn't aware of the extent of the problem - and it is just fantastic that things are taking a turn for the better and incredibly so," he said. The archbishop was referring to the impact of government-led programmes in several dozen villages in the region which focus on delaying marriage. Read more from BBC »
Related topic:
Young women aid Ethiopia's health system
Ethiopian village fights against female circumcision
Fighting child marriage in Ethiopia
Women who inspire
New Equal Opportunity Law for Ethiopians
Archbishop Tutu fights against child marriage in Ethiopia
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