Saudi Girl, 8, Divorces Husband, 50

CAIRO — An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000, her lawyer said Thursday. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.

The girl was allowed to divorce the 50-year-old man who she married in August after an out-of-court settlement had been reached in the case, said her lawyer, Abdulla al-Jeteli. The exact date of the divorce was not immediately known.

A court in the central Oneiza region previously rejected a request by the girl's mother for a divorce and ruled that the girl would have to wait until she reached puberty to file a petition then.

There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, some marriage officials don't seek it.

But there has been a push by Saudi human rights groups to define the age of marriage and put an end to the phenomenon.

One Saudi human rights activist Sohaila Zain al-Abdeen was optimistic that the girl's divorce would help efforts to get a law passed enforcing a minimum marriage age of 18.

"Unfortunately, some fathers trade their daughters," she told The Associated Press. "They are weak people who are sometimes in need of money and forget their roles as parents."

It was not clear if the man received money for the divorce settlement. The man had given the girl's father 50,000 riyals, or about $13,350, as a marriage gift in return for his daughter, the lawyer said.

The 8-year-old girl's marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention in recent months. Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men or young boys including a 15-year-old girl whose father, a death-row inmate, married her off to a cell mate.

Saudi Arabia's conservative Muslim clergy have opposed the drive to end child marriages. In January, the kingdom's most senior cleric said it was permissible for 10-year-old girls to marry and those who believe they are too young are doing the girls an injustice.

But some in the government appear to support the movement to set a minimum age for marriage. The kingdom's new justice minister was quoted in mid-April as saying the government was doing a study on underage marriage that would include regulations.

There are no statistics to show how many marriages involving children are performed in Saudi Arabia every year. Activists say the girls are given away in return for hefty marriage gifts or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.

Comments

[beyondliberal]

Great; 8 year-old children being married off to sex offenders. You can bet such girls have had genital mutilation, too.
When will we ever stop diplomatic relations with countries which do such things?
Naturally, we'll need to take the rap for our torture policy, first.

[yakaria]

We won't. Why? because we need their oil.

[larce1948]

This is a horrid practice and concept unjustifiable by any religion. Not even a bunch of nutball Mormons right here in the good ole US of A. What was Mitt Romney's position on the Warren Jeffs cult? Oh, yea, MSM forgot to ask. Support RAWA and anyone else trying to end such nonsense.

[IrishTaco]

"Saudi Arabia's conservative Muslim clergy have opposed the drive to end child marriages".
SICK.

[Yamunation]

Even if a woman's consent is required, she can be murdered by her family members for not giving it. So that pseudo law is a bunch of hooey anyway. I hope this girl's family lets her live, and allows her to do more with her life.

[counterpart76]

Next time the Hannity's of the world talk about how the Iraq war was about fighting for freedom, show them this. Because the first Gulf Wa, which led up to the Iraq war, was done to protect Saudi Arabia from being invaded from Iraq. So basically, we protected the freedom of a 50 year old to marry a 8 year old girl.

Go Freedom, spread that democracy!!!!

Proves once again that the the Gulf Wars were about oil, we protected a country that stones women who are raped and allows old men to marry children. That's the conservatives at work. So next time you flag waving wackos cry about fighting for freedom, remember this!

[davidwayneosedach]

I am sure this won't be the "last" of this type of divorce. Imagine how many thousands can't get out of their houses, let alone, near a court.

[Glenn Manning]

They just grew apart.

[jdt67]

That headline alone is enough to make one want to sit down and cry. Who would want to do this to their child. I don't care what your belief system is, this is just wrong. In the modern world, girls and women should not be treated like chattel.

[Artemis34]

It is not so much his "child" as his property. This gives us a window into the world the neo-conservatives and sponsors of Prop 8 want to bring us. Women are property, without rights of self determination, and we're to live by the old testament edicts.

[Dr Manhattan]

What the heck are you babbling about?

Prop 8? What a stretch. This about women rights, not about gays and lesbian getting married.

[Miss Drea]

Your joking right? I don't know how I feel about Gay Marriage....but I DO KNOW that homosexuals or the heterosexuals who support Proposition 8, arent supporting it so that gays and lesbians can marry 8 year olds. When will my sistren on "the right" learn that the crazier and the stupider you sound, the less likely anyone is to pay attention to you?

[CrzyRussell]

That's completely off topic and a side show.

[southwindow]

this is traditional marriage-as old as any.
it deserves to be attacked.

[mergina]

And she is still alive. Amazing. Miracles never cease.

[Artemis34]

Let's pray she's able to stay alive.

[yakaria]

This is what when you have a country that is run by Muslim fundamentalists. Pre-70's Saudi Arabia was a modern country where Women had rights. but now because of the Wahabi forcing the country to Sharia law there are little human rights for women.

[jajenkins]

You may be confusing Saudi Arabia with other countries in the area.

Slavery was legal in Saudi Arabia (and practiced) until 1962.

[Usama]

The bigotry here is disgusting. Its clear that bigotry is still rampant in America.

[southwindow]

yep bigotry is still here. at least we got rid of state sanctioned child marriages

[Artemis34]

We got rid of the sanction, not the practice. While far less common, girls are forced into loveless (plural) marriages with a adult men in some US sects.

[rubberstamp]

Finally !! what took her so long?

[lizt]

What took her so long was a court system that denied her requests repeatedly.

[MajorKong]

Nice people. We should sell them more of our front-line weaponry.

[Joethepauper]

"There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage." WTF? This is one of our closest allies! Did this issue never come up? How long has S.A. been a state? I suspect there is a lot more of this going on, and the only reason this made the news was that the family of the girl spoke out. How many 8 year olds will be married this year? Shouldn't we be asking S.A. questions instead of kissing and holding hands with them?

[azriel]

hey joethepauper--shouldnt have the Bush admin done what you asked all those years ago--nooooooooo...he couldnt do that, because Bush and his "carlyle" group buddies are all in the pocket of Saudi big oil. The point is that allowing the 8yr old girl to be married; although despicable, is a cultural matter--Imagine if SA decided not to do business with th U.S. because some of our states allow "gay-marriage", or in the U.S. women are allowed to walk around half naked, they could legitametly make that claim.

[canobserv]

it is child abuse.................where do you draw the line

[Artemis34]

Yet another reason to move away from oil and toward greener solutions.

And speaking of oil, I don't see these things happening in Venezuela, and none of the 9/11 attackers came from Venezuela (they did come from Saudi Arabia). So why is Venezuela an "enemy" according to neo-cons? Because they want to use the common wealth of their people, their petroleum, to benefit their people. We can't let any of Venezuela's Christian values contaminate business practices!

[roncar]

At least B ush never bowed down to the King.