CAIRO - As a humble day worker struggling to feed his eight children, he was easily convinced when a wealthy Arab man asked to marry his 14-year-old daughter. Although the law is clear about the legal age of marriage (it was 16 before being recently raised to 18), there are many ways to get around it. Marriage brokers usually play a major role in facilitating such violations, while the maazoun (marriage registrar) is either bribed or the family of the would-be bride are talked into accepting an orfi (unregistered) marriage. The humble day worker easily gave in when a broker promised him that the 50-year-old Yemeni suitor would be his saviour. He dreamt of moving out of the shabby room where he, his wife and their eight children have been crammed for years. Blinded by the mirage of a better life for the entire family, the father did not even ask about the suitor's occupation. He gave his daughter away for a dowry of LE100 (that was 20 years ago) and a bag full of new clothes. Later on, when the couple settled in Yemen, the truth came out. For 15 years now, the wife has not been able to buy a ticket to return home. Surprisingly, this scenario is not uncommon. There are villages known by name to elderly Arabs seeking rural, underage girls. Sociologists and human rights activists are well aware that Al-Hawamdiya in 6th October Governorate has gained a reputation as a generous supplier of young girls that are not yet ready to become wives and mothers. According to field studies, poverty is the catalyst for bitter stories, where humiliation and torture seem to be common factors. The integrity of these young girls is the least thing taken into consideration when it comes to money. A study conducted by Azza el-Gazaar, Director of the Oyun Centre for Human Rights, Development and Democracy, concludes that unemployment, low pay and ignorance of the social, health, legal and psychological impact of premature marriages to wealthy, elderly, unsuitable Arabs are to blame for the problem. Professor el-Gazaar told Al-Masry Al-Youm Arabic-language daily that well-organised awareness campaigns on ground and satellite TV, warning of the risks, are urgently required. However, she regretted that the law is incomplete, in that it does not provide protection for witnesses and informants in such cases of illegal marriage. The relatives of the victims and eyewitnesses say that the brokers who mediate between the two sides are making a lot of money out of this unethical business. As el-Gazaar explained, these matchmakers have financial problems of their own, or else they would get involved in such a despicable business. These brokers, who know each and every family in their neighbourhood, keep a beady eye on their pretty young daughters. They bring tempting financial offers to the homes of struggling breadwinners or unemployed fathers of large families. A 48-year-old civil servant who works in the Supply Department in the village of Manawat, referred to only as FM, told the Arabic-language Sabah el-Kheir magazine that one such unscrupulous broker had organised one girl after another for an elderly Saudi man who owns a lot of land in the village. The Saudi man spends a few months with each wife, then divorces her and leaves her to deal with the fallout, as he moves on to his next short-lived marriage. Social studies have revealed that some brokers use the Internet to invite visiting Arabs to take young Egyptian wives for a limited period for a fixed price. Poverty and only poverty is the reason that prompts parents to ‘sell' their daughters, Professor Magda Adly, Director of the Nadim Centre, told the same publication. She holds the Government responsible for the spread of ‘seasonal marriages' that lack the basic components of real matrimony.
