As early as the age of eight you can get your daughters married in Yemen (Clymer 2013). This is a sad fact and for Nada AL-Ahdal, an eleven-year-old Yemeni girl, this is the truth of their society. Clymer, a writer and advocate for social equality, explains that in a video Nada brought to light the harsh reality that these young girls would rather kill themselves than marry men they don't even know (Clymer 2013). Watching the video provided by the subtitles, Nada said that "I managed to solve my problem, but some innocent children can't solve theirs and may die, commit suicide or do whatever they can think of." The women and girls of Yemen are oppressed within their rigid culture and an equal agreement must be reached. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In Yemen women are seen as unequal due to their strict culture and traditional views that they have continued to hold all these years. According to Olivia Hadreas, writer of The Borgen Project, Yemen is considered the worst place on this earth for women to live. The female literacy rate in the area is 35% (Hadreas 2013). This is a drastic difference compared to the literacy rate in the United States which is 99% (from map) Hadreas continued and stated that the ratio of women to men based on income status was 30:100. Because women in Yemen are subject to such restrictive laws, the country is ranked 134th globally in women's educational attainment. In most Islamic communities men have the upper hand on many things when it comes to women, their healthcare is very poor, making pregnancy complications much more dangerous than anyone else, 1-39 women die in childbirth in Yemen a because their medical help to women is so low and poor. Yemen needs to improve a lot for women in its country. Arranged marriages are very common in Yemen, girls as young as 8 can be married off. In 2013, a human rights minister in Yemen wanted marriages under the age of 18 to be outlawed after an 8-year-old boy died days after marrying a 40-year-old man (Jamjoom 2013). International outrage grew out of control after this emerged over the thought of innocent children as young as 8 years old getting married, but to top it off the girl died. It was claimed that the undeveloped baby died a few days later due to sexual intercourse that tore open the uterus and caused internal bleeding and infection (Jamjoom 2013). People are trying to justify “child brides” by saying that even though it is okay for them to marry young children not to have sexual intercourse until the child is fully developed. As anyone can see, the rule is widely ignored and overlooked. Jamjoom, the CNN reporter, interviewed a resident in Yemen, his statement was: "Nobody talks about this story because it's embarrassing, but this is what poverty can do to people." What he means by this is what poverty can do to people, he is talking about why these people sell their daughters into marriage to escape poverty. They sell their daughters to older, richer men who have nothing else better to do with their money I feel nostalgic not remembering that their family put a price on them and it was good enough for them to earn some money. In 2009 they were this close to reaching the legal age forget married 17 years old, this was even passed into my legislation, but the bill itself was never signed (Jamjoom 2013). The Yemeni government has always kept its views on women severely restricted, pushing women in Yemen to demand better rights given to them to be equal among their male counterparts large demonstration of women of all ages demanding and protesting against the president's resignation Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa (Akl 2012).When this accusation caused an uproar among thousands of women in Arad, most of them took a leading role in the protest, which is very rare. The Yemeni president responded at the time by claiming that the women participating in the demonstration were exhibiting “un-Islamic” behavior (Akl 2012). When women finally forced Yemen's president to resign, power was handed over to Vice President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in early 2012 (Akl 2012). Even though their efforts are still ongoing, nothing has changed yet in the harsh laws against women. The government of Yemen is trying to use the Quran to justify itself when it has nothing to say in the Holy Book that women cannot have a role in society. In the article “In Yemen, women take one step forward and two steps back by Aida Akl” she interviewed a woman who did not use her real name and who goes by “NoonArabia” with a surprising statement: “There is no nothing in Islam that says a woman cannot work or play a vital role in society outside the walls of the home,” NoonArabia said. Akl goes on to state that “Fundamentalists always abuse Islam as a means of repressing women (Akl 2012).” Here in the United States, domestic violence is looked down upon and there is no justification for it. In Yemen the story is completely different. In a social system men are seen as superior by law and tradition. Women are expected to go to their men, obey and ask for permission. This way of being has been instilled in their young, developing minds since they were children. When someone has that much power in a relationship, it leads to physical abuse. (Response 2012). It is terribly sad to see that this is one of the most common acts committed against women in Yemen. In a 2012 Home Office report, the number of women killing their husbands had a notable increase. About 50 women who killed their husbands in 2012 between the ages of 25 and 50 have been arrested and the description of why this happened, one of the main reasons why this happened was because of domestic abuse. It has also been seen that when domestic violence accumulates most of the time it goes unreported, very rarely are women seen reporting their husbands as they are very ignorant and could not support themselves without their husband (Anwer 2012). According to the National Women's Committee, only 5% of women reported their domestic dispute. This happens so easily due to many factors, the first would be that many Yemeni women know their rights even though they are even more unaware of what is considered domestic violence as most women are very ignorant. When this happens, it is seen as cultural heritage because their freedoms have been limited for much of their lives. Some forms of violence within Islamic marriages are seen as worthy consequences (Anwer 2012). The reasoning behind this is that women should obey their husbands when this does not happen, it is seen as a way to discipline women and beat them. It's so sad to see a husband have so much power over his wife and use it to belittle her. Women are supposed to watch theirs.