Campaigners in new call over Saudi child brides

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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