Yemen : Gulf Arab men abusing marriage :: IRIN
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Men from wealthy Gulf states flock to the country where they 'marry' young Yemeni girls. The couples spend their honeymoon in hotels and then the grooms return to their own countries saying they will make arrangements and send for their brides soon. They say they need to arrange visas and make promises of a better life when they are reunited with their new young wives. Most of the girls never hear from the men again.

"A Saudi man came to my father and asked to marry me. I was 16 years old then. My father agreed without questioning. Three days later we got married. We spent some good time in the hotel. He left after one month. I later found out he was already married in his home country, some days later I got notification of divorce by mail," Amal said

A study of the practice by Fuad al-Shibami, a lecturer at Ibb university, showed that 65 percent of the victims of such marriages were under 24 years of age. "There is a common denominator between those summer husbands - they like marrying very young girls to satisfy their sexual lust and desire," the study said. "Their prime goal in marrying such youngsters is sexual, with no consideration for social, religious or human aspects of the unions," it added.

The low incomes of the parents inevitably drive many parents to push their daughters into these sham marriages.

I'm a guest in the UAE. Should I be bringing this up in my host's home? [Thanks to Larry of SS for the link.]