Outcry in Somalia as new bill would allow child marriage

JOHANNESBURG — An outcry is rising in Somalia as parliament considers a bill that would allow child marriage once a girl’s sexual organs mature and would allow forced marriage as long as the family gives their consent.
The bill is a dramatic reworking of years of efforts by civil society to bring forward a proposed law to give more protections to women and girls in one of the world’s most conservative countries.
The new Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill “would repres