ALBAWABA - Since the start of the civil war in Sudan in mid-April, human rights organizations have been noticing a huge expansion in child marriage, Daraj Media reported on Monday.
A Sudanese father confessed to Daraj that he forced his 12-year-old daughter to marry in order to allegedly protect her from sexual abuse amid rising rape cases in Sudan.
The father, under the fake name Mahdi Khair, said that his teenage daughter got married on the third day of Eid al-Adha in Um Algura village near the capital Khartoum.
He added that he took the decision as he is unable to protect his daughter from the possible sexual abuse that she might face amid unrest and the increase in rape cases.
According to the Sudanese legalization, authorities in the Personal Procedures Law permitted the marriage of "distinguished women," whose age was set at 10 years.
2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey results showed that 12 percent of women married before the age of 15, and 38 percent married before the age of 18.
The United Nations has warned about rising women's rights violations in Sudan and said: "Violence against women and girls has reached alarming levels in Sudan."
It maintained that U.N. officials urged to put an urgent end to gender-based violence, including sexual violence.
