WUNRN
Saudi Arabia - Girl Age 12 Granted
Forced Marriage Divorce from Husband 80
April 22, 2010
By David Knowles
Saudi
Arabia - In a case that could spur the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to set
minimum age limits for marriage, a girl who was wed at age 11 to an 80-year-old
man has been granted a divorce.
In exchange for a dowry of about $22,000, the girl, now 12, was forced to marry
her father's cousin last year. After the girl protested her marriage, her case
generated interest in the foreign press, and the state-run Human Rights
Commission agreed to represent her in court proceedings in the town of
Buraidah.
In recent days, however, the girl and her family are said to have come to an
agreement, allowing for a privately settled divorce.
Set up in 2005 by King Abdullah, the Human Rights Commission has attempted to
improve conditions for women in a nation where they are forbidden to drive,
vote or move freely in public without a male escort.
The Human Rights Commission said it would use this case to attempt to establish
a minimum age for marriage of 16. Comprising medical experts, child
psychologists, social workers and scholars in Islamic law, three committees
have been set up to debate the matter, the London
Times reported.
"The main aim is to not allow cases like this to happen again,"
Alanoud al-Hejailan, a lawyer with Human Rights Commission, told the Times.
"There will be some opposition, of course, but we feel that public opinion
has changed on this issue. We want to gather all the public support we can for
a minimum age for marriage."
Part of the difficulty in imposing marriage age restrictions in this strictly
religious society is attributable to the fact that Islam's most revered figure,
the Prophet Muhammad, himself wed a 9-year-old girl.
In January, however, Sheikh Abdullah al-Manie, a senior Saudi cleric, said
Muhammad's 7th-century marriage could not be used as justification for today's
child marriages, the Indian
Express reported.
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.