The tragic story of ‘Dina’ who was pushed into sex work as a result of early marriage

In commemoration of IWD, L’Orient Le Jour daily yesterday highlighted the sad story of ‘Dina’ who, because of harsh living conditions, had to sell herself in order to sustain her only daughter. Dina, 30 years, from South Lebanon, admitted in an interview with the newspaper, that her father had forced her to marry a foreigner in exchange for some USD15 thousand when she was only 14 years old. When she turned 19, she had to flee her marital house after being constantly beaten by her violent husband and move with her daughter to her father’s place. Dina went on to describe the humiliating treatment  by her father and her step mother where they had to sleep out on the balcony and feed on leftovers. To carry on, Dina said she had to leave again and work in housekeeping at a hotel. There she met someone and married him by signing a customary contract (zawaj urfi), but not yet divorced from her first marriage. The second spouse, Dina grieved, was not better, and forced her to work as a prostitute for money before terminating the marriage contract. Today, L’Orient Le Jour wrote, Dina is homeless and lives on the streets of the capital selling her body for meagre money. Her daughter is now 14 and lives at the Lebanese Association of SOS Children’s Villages outside Beirut where she visits her once in a month. Finally, while Dina expressed hope to find a decent job with a decent but steady wage, she told the newspaper that she shall rest only when she knows that her father, the cause of her misery, has passed away. (L’Orient Le Jour, March 16, 2016)