Yemeni Child 'Sold' by Her Dad For $400: Internet Users Protest Govt Complicity in This Modern-Day Slavery

An online post by the Yemeni Feminist Voice has gone viral after it posted photos of a young kid held by another man, in addition to a copy of an official document signed by several people including representatives of the Yemeni government which reads an agreement to sell the young child "Lemon" for about $400.

Translation: "A documented attempt to sell a child is signed by government officials. Human trafficking still exists in Yemen with no changes to this ugly reality. The kid Lemon is being sold by her criminal father joined by everyone who has signed this document."

According to the document issued in August 2019 by the documentation department at the Yemeni Ministry of Justice, the father Yasser Abdel-Naser Saeed Al-Salahi "has sold his free daughter" Lemon to Mohammad Hassan Ali Al-Fatki for a total of 200k Yemeni Riyals, with only half the price paid in advance, which equals about $400 USD.

Even though the document doesn't state the purpose or the reason for "the deal", social media users widely shared the photos condemning what is regarded as modern-day slavery that is still carried out by some people in Yemen, and especially as this "deal" seems to involve government officials in the war-torn country.

Shocked by the image and the document, social media users called on authorities and international organizations to "rescue" Lemon from what they described as a human trafficking ring, wondering about the young girl's fate since that document was signed 16 months ago.

For more than 5 years, Yemen has been living through a civil war that involves Saudi Arabia and Iran, causing spikes in social and political unrest in the Yemeni community.

Consequently, several civic and humanitarian organizations have reported dangerous practices against women, such as the increase in child marriages in Yemen, one that is driven by the political unrest that has ravaged the country's economy and families' abilities to educate or provide a living for their daughters.

According to a 2017 report by the UNOCHA, Yemen has recorded a threefold increase in under-18 marriages.