US embassy cable - 05MANAMA391

UNCLAS MANAMA 000391 
 
SIPDIS 
 
G/IWI FOR L. KHADIAGALA 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, PHUM, PGOV, SCUL, SOCI, KWMN, BA 
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: CHILD MARRIAGE 
 
REF: SECSTATE 36341 
 
Sensitive but unclassified (deliberative process); please 
protect accordingly.  Not for Internet distribution. 
 
1.  (U) Embassy Manama's response to reftel follows.  Answers 
are keyed to reftel questions. 
 
2.  (SBU) 1.A.  There is no legal age of marriage in Bahrain. 
 Recently the King announced his support for a personal 
status law, and the GOB and civil society organizations are 
discussing a law, which would include a legal age of 
marriage.  In personal status cases involving marriage, 
divorce, custody, etc., Muslims in Bahrain are subject to 
Shari'a law.  There are two Shari'a courts in Bahrain, one 
for Sunni Muslims and the other for Shi'a Muslims.  Sunni 
Shari'a law in Bahrain, which is applied to approximately 30 
percent of the citizens and is based on the rules of the 
Maliki school of law, permits a guardian to authorize a 
daughter's marriage without her consent.  According to the 
Shi'a Shari'a law in Bahrain, which is applied to 
approximately 70 percent of the citizens and is based on the 
rules of Jaafari Shi'ism, a female cannot be married unless 
she gives her consent.  There are approximately 420,000 
Bahraini citizens and 280,000 foreigners living in Bahrain. 
 
3.  (SBU) 1.B.  Underage marriage (under 18) exists only 
rarely in Bahrain.  The latest GOB statistics on marriage are 
from 2003.  In 2003, 18 girls and (and no boys) below the age 
of 15 received marriage licenses.  Of these, 13 were 
Bahrainis and five were foreign.  1,077 females and 85 males 
between the ages of 15 and 19 received marriage licenses. 
Among the girls, 942 were Bahraini and 135 were foreign. 
Among the boys, 73 were Bahraini and 12 were foreign.  Our 
contacts who commented on the issue were unanimous in their 
assessment that most of the 15-19 year olds who were married 
were at the older end of the category.  According to a 
women's rights activist, underage marriage in Bahrain is 
often physically and psychologically damaging, especially in 
cases where the marriage is forced by the parents.  Girls who 
are married at a young age could give birth to children 
before their bodies are fully mature. 
 
4.  (SBU) 1.C. Currently there are no U.S.-funded initiatives 
in Bahrain to reduce the incidence or address the negative 
affects of child marriage.  We have MEPI-funded education 
programs, but these do not specifically target girls at risk 
of underage marriage. 
MONROE