In memory of little Rawan, let´s end child marriage for good

39,000 children per day are forced into marriage

This week, an eight-year-old Yemeni girl called Rawan died from severe internal injuries after being brutally raped by her 40-year-old husband on their wedding night. It´s impossible to imagine the terror and pain this small child suffered as she was so horrifically abused, but we must not let her tragic ordeal be in vain. In Yemen, where poverty-stricken families can earn good money by selling a young daughter, more than a quarter of girls marry before the age of 15. For years, protesters in Yemen have been fighting to change this, but in 2009 the courts threw out a law that campaigned to set the minimum age for marriage at 17.  Rawan´s parents failed her, and so did her government. Her death has sparked anger in Yemen, and we must join the people´s urgent call for change while the world´s attention is on the country. All children deserve a childhood. Please act now before another girl like Rawan is forced to endure such a barbaric attack on her innocence.

I have created a petition on Avaaz and would appreciate any help to raise awareness-  please sign and share the campaign using the above link if this touches you.  United, we CAN make a difference to future generations.

Our approach to paedophilia and sexual offences isn´t working- responses

Last week I had an article on paedophilia (or pedophilia, if you are on the other side of the pond) published in Salon, a digital magazine based in the USA. Since then, I have received many emails from readers who felt that the article resonated with them. Some confided heartbreaking stories of abuse and thanked me for my conclusions, while others admitted to feeling attracted to children and were angry that my article did not treat paedophilia as a sexual orientation like any other. With that in mind, I´d like to clarify a few things.

Not all paedophiles are predatory and not all sex offenders are paedophiles. To be attracted to children does not necessarily mean you are a danger to society- but unlike being gay, straight or bisexual, it does mean that you cannot fulfill your sexual urges without breaking the law and damaging a child, whether physically or mentally.

The keyword here is consent. My personal belief is that the age of consent should be lowered: it seems ridiculous that a 17 year-old could end up on the sex offenders´register for a perfectly natural ´roll in the hay´ with his 15 year-old girlfriend, for example. But we cannot apply that argument to a pre-pubescent child, and they must be protected at any cost.