Ekteskap med mindreårige jenter har økt i byen Derna etter at jihastene der meldte sin lojalitet til IS i oktober ifjor. Helseklinikkene registerer økte tilfeller av spontanaborter og fødselskomplikasjoner etter at jihadistene har tatt seg barnebruder som kone nr. 2 eller tre.

“Just in the clinics that we are able to monitor, we are seeing four to five cases of under-age brides every week and it’s getting worse. There is also the spread of STDs (kjønnssykdommer) and the growing prevalence of miscarriages, premature and stillbirths,” she told The Times.

En lokal gynekolog sier at jentene er så unge at de ofte ikke skjønner hva som er blitt gjort mot dem.

“We see girls who are bleeding heavily from their genital area. Some of them don’t know what sex is — they come into the clinic playing with their dolls.”

En aktivist i Derna forteller at barnebruder er mest vanlig i de fattige nabolagene i Saida Khadija og Embakh.

“It’s mainly about power and protection — you notice a change in the status of the families,» he said. «Before they would hide but after the girls are married to the jihadist commanders they move more easily about town. Some of them get nice cars and nice houses too. They see it as a way of protecting their girls from something worse.»

The Independent