Campaigners in new call over Saudi child brides

YOUNG BRIDES: Human rights campaigners are calling for an end to the practice.

The Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) has called on government agencies to take steps to end the practice of child marriages.

The call comes in the wake of several cases across Saudi Arabia in which young girls have been married to elderly men, mainly for monetary reasons such as the settlement of debts or to receive generous dowries.

“Such marriages violate human rights by depriving a girl of her childhood,” said Turki Al-Sudairy, president of the Human Rights Commission, is quoted as saying in Arab News on Tuesday.

“Child marriages should be considered to be the same as forced marriages since valid consent has not been obtained from the bride who is also under aged,” he added.

He also called for measures to raise awareness on the adverse effects of early marriages among Saudis.

Dr Ayman Abu Laban, UNICEF representative in the Gulf, said his organisation was also strongly against child marriages, which inflict serious psychological and physical risks on young girls.

“We believe that a girl should only marry after she has achieved all the development stages of her childhood, which, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is the age of 18,” he stressed.

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READERS' COMMENTS

child marriage
Posted by thomson, auh, u.a.e. on Wednesday 27 August 2008 at 09:11 UAE time

Today - 21st Century - should not be heard such a cultureless thing. The Girl or Boy should be grown-up & educated before they are capable of thinking about marriage and understand the things the right way to do.

Shame it's enforced ...
Posted by motivated on Wednesday 27 August 2008 at 09:03 UAE time

Shame something like this has to come from Human Rights .... such a huge shame that Saudi's obviously think the behaviour of child marriages (let alone the recent example of swapping a daughter in exchange for a 13yr old girl!!!!) is acceptable and condone it.

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