Sayyid Nasrallah: Early marriage is ‘divine’, and whoever fights it is an accomplice to the devil (!)

While the Parliamentary Commission on Women and Children's Affairs was tackling the issue of raising the age of marriage, and has to this end, formed a sub-committee to discuss the matter with involved religious circles, in his address on the occasion of the Muslim Woman day on March 18, the secretary general of Hezbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, described early marriage as ‘divine’, and warned that whoever fights it is an accomplice to the devil. Nasrallah accused media channels and some organizations of serving the interests and objectives of those seeking to undermine Arab families. In this respect, the General Secretariat of the Lebanese Parliament organized a round table on March 23 in collaboration with UNDP under the title, ‘banning child marriage’. Partaking in the discussion, were some of women rights groups, notably Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation and the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL) who denounced the Personal Status Law for infringing on the rights of the child under the disguise of religion. To note, however, and according to L’Orient Le Jour newspaper, all the political blocs agreed in principle to eliminate early marriage, except Hezbollah MPs. On the subject, UNDP representative to Lebanon, Philippe Lazzarini, reminded of the country’s participation in the sustainable plan adopted by the United Nations, which includes the issue of marriage of children. Lazzarini drew attention to the numbers of early marriage contracts during 2016, pointing to an increase brought about by a corresponding increase in the number of Syrian and Palestinian refugees from Syria. According to Lazzarini, the rate of marriage (among minors from 15 and 19 years of age), has risen by 8% to 10%, particularly in the regions of Akkar and Beqaa. The parliamentary session also discussed a draft legislation to protect children from forced child marriage which was prepared by RDFL and with the contribution of Judge Jean Azzi and Dr. Omar Nashabeh. For more on the draft bill, kindly visit the following link: : http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/275797/ (An Nahar, L’Orient Le Jour, March 23 and 24, 2017)