Beirut women's march against child marriage

The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL) and the National Coalition for Protecting Children from Child Marriage, organized a march on Saturday to raise awareness on the issue of child marriage marking International Women’s Day, which falls on March 8 of every year. The demonstration, held under the banner, ‘The younger, the more dangerous’, took off from Al Adlieh area toward Riad Solh in downtown Beirut, to step up the enactment of a bill which makes 18 the minimum age for marriage. Participants hoisted banners which read, “Stop the marriage of children” and “Lawmakers, a child is entitled to security”. The head of RDFL, Leila Mroweh, pointed out in a statement, that the march is aimed to pressure legislators to approve fair civil laws that ensure the rights of women and girls and provide legal protection for them against the most horrendous form of violence, exploitation and trafficking, which is early (child) marriage. For his part, PSP leader, Walid Jumblat, tweeted on the occasion, “The lives of minors, boys and girls, should not be put at stake. The PSP, hence demands the legislature to enact a law that prohibits marriage before the age of 18.” (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, March 4, 2019)