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SAUDI ARABIA RECORDS HIGHER NUMBER OF WOMEN FORCED TO MARRY RELATIVES – TAHJEER CASES
Reuters
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Saudi
Gazette, Dammam - 7 December 2014
Saudi
Courts reported an increase in “tahjeer” cases where the male relative
of a woman strikes an agreement with her guardian to marry her without
consultation and she is then banned from marrying anyone else, Al-Hayat daily
reported.
Courts
in the kingdom confirmed that there were nine cases of tahjeer during the last
two years, three of them in the last 40 days.
Khalid
al-Fakhry, the general-secretary of the National Society for Human Rights, said
tahjeer was a crime against Islamic, international and national law.
“In
fact, it is a form of human trafficking where the victim’s freedom, identity
and rights are robbed from her,” said Fakhry.
“A
woman who raises a tahjeer case in court is one rejecting a non-Islamic
tradition in which she is victimized due to the ignorance of society,” he said.
“These
cases are usually raised before a marriage contract is about to be signed.
“The
woman would go to the court and report that she is a victim of tahjeer and her
opinion and consent to the marriage were never obtained.”
He
said if the women’s allegations were proven to be true, the judge would try to
advise the guardian to refrain from his act.
If
he is adamant that the marriage should go ahead then he is stripped of his
guardianship rights, which are then assigned to someone else.
The
Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa in 2005 saying
tahjeer and forced marriages were not allowed in Islam because they violate the
religion’s conditions governing marriage.
Senior
scholars considered those who commit tahjeer as disobeyers of Allah who still
follow a pre-Islamic and ignorant tradition.
In
their view, those who commit tahjeer must be imprisoned and never released
until they repent their crime.
The
Forum on Domestic Violence in Dammam presented a number of workshops and
seminars helping women identify domestic abuse and how to report it.
The
forum included a number of activities and campaigns held by the Social Affairs
Ministry for the prevention of domestic violence that showcased what the
ministry is doing to protect women, children and victims.