Seaside wedding ceremonies are romantic and memorable, but not when the bride is a 12-year old girl and the groom is a 65-year old man, who is old enough to be the grandfather of the former. This wedding took place in Lebanon, which elicited a lot of angry reaction from passers-by and even from social media.
The horrible scene was simply too much to bear for a lot of passers-by. Although not everyone who saw what transpired were angry.
There were also those who expressed congratulations to the groom, according to Mirror. The footage also drew an international outcry considering the tender age of the child.
In another account by Independent, one passer-by questioned the groom and the photographer, accusing the former as a "criminal." To such an accusation, the groom retorted, "This is none of your business. I got permission from her parents."
But before emotions got too high at such a disturbing footage, many people were soon relieved when they found out that the child and the groom in the video were actors whom the campaign group KAFA hired. In Arabic, "kafa" means "enough."
The video was intentionally shot as part of the campaign to put a halt to the rising number of young girls being forced into marriage at such a tender age. In accordance with the Lebanese culture, parents can give permission to their nine-year old child to marry. When girls reach the age of 14, they can already give their own consent without their parents' permission.
Maya Ammar, one of the campaigner said, "The scene was supposed to seem shocking because the practice itself is shocking." Statistics shows that this early marriage is common in families belonging to the low and middle income brackets.
This practice of marrying off girls early is not only found in Lebanon, but also in other Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Pakistan, Jordan, etc. albeit with different age requirements. The United Nations Population Fund has reported that by 2050, more than 1.2 billion girls will be forcibly married.
As a way to thwart such a practice, the Lebanese government introduced a legislation that will require civil registration for all marriages. The government is hoping that such a law will be passed.
Child brides are being frowned upon in the international community considering that many of these young girls end up committing suicide or dying during childbirth. However, with the KAFA campaign, there might just be a glimmer of hope for these young girls.
