For more information on the Peulh people in Guinea, please consult GIN36994.F of 21 June 2001. For more information on forced marriage in Guinea, please consult section 3.3 of GIN37564.FE of 20 July 2001.

No information on forced marriage among the Peulh people in Guinea could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response. However, the following information on forced marriage in general in Guinea, as well as the following information on marriage among the Peulh people, may be of interest.

Guinean law prohibits underage marriage; however, in the Forest Region, parents arrange marriage for girls as young as 11 years of age (United Nations 27 Feb. 2003, para. 294). "The Government, in conjunction with local journalists and international NGOs, is also promoting an education campaign to discourage underage marriage" (ibid.). The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights expressed concern about the situation of early and forced marriages in Guinea (ibid., para. 299).

Barry Nancy Ba, a Guinean female computer expert, openly condemned early marriage among the Peulh people, a practice by which girls are married to older men (PANA 11 Mar. 2002). According to Barry Nancy Ba, this tradition still prevails because of poverty and the refusal of parents to send their daughters to school (ibid.).

Among the Peulh people of Guinea, a man's family sends a spokesperson with ten kola nuts to the family of the girl who is coveted (Université Paris 8 à Saint Denis n.d.a). If the spokesperson is well received, the marriage will take place (ibid.). Generally speaking, marriages are between Peulh cousins (ibid.). For a man to be accepted, he must be a practising Muslim and [translation] "respectful of the basic principles of Islam" (ibid.). Peulh men consider themselves to be superior to women, which is why [translation] "a wife is regarded as a child, and her husband as the father" (ibid. n.d.b). While a wife is [translation] "allowed to visit or be visited by her parents once a week," she may see her other close relatives only once a year (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Panafrican News Agency (PANA). 11 March 2002. "Guinean Female Activist Against Early Marriages." (Global News Wire-Asia Africa Intelligence Wire/NEXIS)

United Nations. 27 February 2003. Commission on Human Rights. Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence against Women. (E/CN.4/2003/75/Add.1) http://193.194.138.190/pdf/chr59/75add1AV.pdf [Accessed 15 July 2003]

Université Paris 8 à Saint Denis. n.d.a. Unité de formation et de recherche. Diallo Fatoumata. "Cérémonie du mariage, bénédiction des différents parents." http://ufr-tes.univ-paris8.fr/etudiants/diallof/deroulement.html [Accessed 11 July 2003]

_____. n.d.b. Unité de formation et de recherche. Diallo Fatoumata. "Mariage et religion." http://ufr-tes.univ-paris8.fr/etudiants/diallof/Mariage.html [Accessed 11 July 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

World News Connection

Internet sites, including:

Africa Confidential

Afrol

All Africa

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Famafrique

Feminist.com

Fuuta-Jalon

Human Rights Internet

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

Norwegian Council for Africa

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Search engines:

Copernic

Google