A/HRC/42/CRP.1 rape or any other form of sexual violence, and outrages upon personal dignity. 1099 The Group also notes that these acts amount to violations of human rights law under the CRC1100 and through the framework of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.1101 Child, early and forced marriage 701. While the CEDAW bans child marriages,1102 Yemen’s Child Rights Law 45 does not address the issue of child marriage nor does it establish a minimum age for marriage. Reports reviewed by the Group of Experts showed that child, early and forced marriage has increased during the conflict period. In 2013, for example, prior to the conflict, the Yemen National Health and Demographic Survey showed that 31.9 per cent of women aged 20-24 years were married before 18 years of age and 9.4 per cent had been married before age 15.1103 In 2017, a survey on Child Marriage conducted by UNICEF in six governorates in Yemen found that as a result of the conflict child marriage had become a coping mechanism for families. The study, though limited, found that 72.5 per cent of respondents indicated they had married before they had reached 18 years of age. 1104 702. Interviewees indicated to the Group that ‘child marriage’ is a widespread practice in Yemen, driven largely by poverty and exacerbated by the armed conflict. The Group documented cases where parents - especially among poor and displaced households, and therefore in an accentuated state of financial and physical vulnerability – have felt compelled to marry their daughters off as young as 11 years old in order to provide them with the shelter and economic security they cannot themselves provide, while at the same time relieving themselves of the pressure of another mouth to feed and another person to protect. 703. The Group received first-hand accounts of five girls married at the ages of 11, 14, 15 and 17 years old.1105 In one of the cases, an 11-year-old girl was forced by her father to marry a 30 year-old man, who already had another wife and children. As a result of sexual intercourse the girl was hospitalized due to severe bleeding and injuries. 1106 In another case, a 14-year-old, forced to marry her cousin who was 11 years older than her, was subjected to brutal domestic violence.1107 704. The Group is concerned that during the conflict girls’ fundamental rights have not been protected and they have been further exposed to violence and the risk of exploitation, including domestic and sexual violence. See Chapter on Gender analysis and gender-based violence for further details. 5. Violations of the right to health, survival and development 705. During the conflict in Yemen, the fundamental rights of children, inter alia the rights to life, to health, to be with family and community, to the development of the child's personality, to be nurtured and to be protected, have been violated by the parties to the 1099 See ICRC IHL Customary Study, rule 93. CRC, Article 19. 1101 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women General Recommendations 19 (1992), “Violence against women”; and 35 (2017) “on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19”, available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/Recommendations.aspx. 1102 The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW hereinafter), 1980, Article 16(2). 1103 Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen (MOPHP/Yemen hereinafter), Central Statistical Organization Demographic Survey 2013. Available at: http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR296/FR296.pdf. 1104 Confidential Sources on File. 1105 Confidential Sources on File. 1106 Confidential Sources on File. 1107 Confidential Sources on File. 1100 168