Saudi Arabia: Child Marriage Annulled

Two families in Saudi Arabia have agreed to annul the marriage of an 11-year-old girl due to pressure from a lobby group, AHN reports.

The girl was married to a 40-year-old man, but her three elder siblings appealed for her marriage to be abrogated.

Saudi Arabia's National Human Rights Society, who last year lobbied for a minimum matrimonial age to be set in the kingdom, is hailing the decision as an important victory for children, according to AHN.

The Gulf News quotes the group's Dr Hussain Al Sharif as saying that they had "managed to secure an undertaking from the girl's father not to get her married until the girl reaches 18 years of age. "

Recent media reports surrounding particular child marriage cases have increased the level of debate over the issue in Saudi society, encouraging human rights groups to call for bans to child marriages, writes the Gulf News.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch recently criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to adequately improve women's rights, reporting that women still require permission from men while conducting "their most basic affairs".

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Comments

[1differentdrummer]

Rape.

[KinkyGirl]

It's a small victory, but it's a start. A grown-up man marrying a child looks like legal pedophilia to me. A woman needing permission from a man is nothing short of horrendous.

[ShaistaC]

Its about time. Child marriages are an absolute travesty in this day and age.
Now for a minimum marriage age in Saudi Arabia.

[llisa]

". . .they had "managed to secure an undertaking from the girl's father not to get her married until the girl reaches 18 years of age. "

There is still something wrong with this sentence.

[offred]

Either a bad translation from the original or written by someone who has a tenuous grasp of colloquial English.

[Paula Ann]

alhamdulillah!!

[CarmanK]

A grown man who has intercourse with a child is a pedophile. It is more egregious for the man to hide behind the sanctity of marriage.

[deepfreezevideo]

I really could care less what our enemy does with regard to their laws.
I'd love to see Saudi Arabia disappear into the sand with its oil gone forever, and I'd love to see its extremists and also its wealthy terror enablers slowly starve in the hot sun.

Our alliance with this kingdom has brought us nothing but war, terrorism, economic disaster and a nullification of our principles.

Oh, and take the Bush family members with you please...ALL of them.

[roshni]

Fanned.

[JohnnyLee]

Bush + 3/4 of Washington.

[Lahori]

AND who is the extremist here.....

[ibsteve2u]

Arranged marriages...trading your children for power and/or wealth.

I hope nobody jumps to the conclusion that this practice is limited to any particular religion or ethnic group - there are a lot of...people...who treat their children like livestock.