In drought-stricken Kenya, young girls traded for cattle, cash

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: In Bad Times, Girls Become Financial Assets
The drought ravaging Kenya has resulted in a sharp rise in child marriages. Parents trade daughters as young as 8 for livestock and cash.
By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer
March 19, 2006

SILALI, Kenya — Soitanae Ole Kyoiogo watched helplessly as his treasured cows dropped dead in the drought, one after another, until only two survived from a herd of 50. Desperate to feed his family, he turned to the only source of wealth he had left: his daughters, ages 8 and 9.

The 47-year-old Masai father arranged to marry the girls to a pair of local men in exchange for three cows per child, plus some blankets and cash.

It's one of the saddest side effects so far of an East African drought that has killed dozens and is threatening millions more with hunger. Child welfare advocates in Kenya report a sharp rise in forced early marriages, particularly among Masai families looking to replace lost livestock...."Because of the drought, my father wasn't even going to wait for me to grow up," said Timpian Soitanae, 9. "He was going to give me away."

The girls' mother, who is separated from Soitanae, foiled the secret plan with the help of a villager by alerting authorities and tribal chiefs, Kenya officials say. Police arrested Soitanae in December, long enough to remove the girls from his mud-hut compound and take them to a rescue center 20 miles away.

The detention came three days before he allegedly planned to have the girls undergo genital excision, a precursor to marriage....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-brides19mar19,0,4918999.story?coll=la-home-world

[LynnTheDem]

1. Kenya got oil? Time to INVADE and LIBERATE the poor women

of Kenya!

[LostinVA]

2. Oh... wait... no oil? Then the hell with them!

Plus the raped women of Dafur, Rwanda, etc.

[Nikia]

3. Thanks for reminding us that women have a long way to go

In many parts of the world, women are still property and not thought of much more than that. We need to continue to push for the right of all women to be treated as human beings all over the world. We still face issues in the United States, but at least few people would sell their young daughters.