WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Calls for end to Saudi child marriages
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-06 15:51 The groom, Awad al-Harbi, and his bride were allowed to spend two nights together in a special prison quarters after the wedding, according to Al-Watan. Al-Harbi told another newspaper, Al-Madina, recently that his wife was pregnant. There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, some marriage officials do not seek it. For example, a father can marry off a 1-year-old girl as long as sex is delayed until she reaches puberty, said one marriage official, Ahmad al-Muabi. Known as "ma'thoons," these officials have legal authority to preside over marriage contract ceremonies. They ask the groom and the woman's guardian if they approve of the marriage and then give them the marriage papers to sign.There are no statistics to show how many marriages involving children are performed every year. And it's also not clear whether these unions are on the rise or whether people are hearing about them more now because of the prevalence of media outlets and easy access to the Internet. But the phenomenon is not new, said Sheik Muhammad al-Nujaimi, a strong opponent of the marriages. He and other clerics, activists and writers have urged the government to pass legislation setting the minimum age for marriage and to resolve differences among the kingdom's religious authorities over the issue."There are different (religious) opinions regarding the marriages which is why we need the government to settle the issue through legislation," said al-Nujaimi. Such marriages occur not only in Saudi Arabia. In April, an 8-year-old Yemeni girl sought out a judge to file for divorce from a man nearly four times her age. Her lawyer said she was one of thousands of underaged girls who have been forced into marriages in Yemen, an impoverished tribal country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Activists say the numbers in Saudi Arabia are not so high. They sa her husband -- that means a 1-year-old girl can be married off. A man "can enter a marriage contract with a 1-year-old girl, not to mention 9 years, 7 years or 8 years," said al-Muabi. "This is just a contract indicating consent, and the guardian in this case must be the father." Al-Muabi maintained such unions make sense in some cases, such as when a man is the sole guardian of many daughters. "Isn't it better to marry his daughter to a man with whom she can stay and who can protect her and support her, and when she reaches the proper age, have sex with her? Who says all men are ferocious wolves?" said al-Muabi. However, Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obeikan, an's marriage only by a year. "God willing, we will hold the wedding next year," he said. |
