Married at 13, pregnant and starving: Child brides of Yemen

Fatimah* was 13 when she was married off to an older man. Two years later, she gave birth to twin daughters.“I dreamed of going to school like other girls,” she said. “Instead, I became a wife before I had the chance to live my childhood, and a mother before I truly understood what that meant.”For a while, life with her husband was steady, if simple. Then war tore through Yemen, closing clinics and hospitals and driving an already fragile economy into ruin. Families like Fatimah's were pushed into destitution and hunger.“We are witnessing a noticeable increase in cases of malnutrition among pregnant girls, especially those married at an early age,” said Reham Hazbar, a counsellor at a safe space in Al Hudaydah supported by the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA. “Many arrive at health facilities suffering from low weight, anaemia and severe exhaustion, and their bodies are often not prepared to handle the demands of pregnancy.”Severe humanitarian crisisYemen is one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. More than 22 million people – over half of them women and girls – need urgent help this year. Fewer than two thirds of health facilities are still functioning,...