8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband

[Tab]

Source: Associated Press

CAIRO – An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000, her lawyer said Thursday.

Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.

The girl was allowed to divorce the 50-year-old man who she married in August after an out-of-court settlement had been reached in the case, said her lawyer, Abdulla al-Jeteli. The exact date of the divorce was not immediately known.

A court in the central Oneiza region previously rejected a request by the girl's mother for a divorce and ruled that the girl would have to wait until she reached puberty to file a petition then.

There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, some marriage officials don't seek it.
...
"Unfortunately, some fathers trade their daughters," she told The Associated Press. "They are weak people who are sometimes in need of money and forget their roles as parents."
...
The 8-year-old girl's marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention in recent months. Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men or young boys including a 15-year-old girl whose father, a death-row inmate, married her off to a cell mate.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_child_marriage

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. Yeah, because it's SO easy to forget your role as a parent

She should divorce the bastard herself.

[saigon68]

26. And here I thought they liked older men

[marshall]

33. Men from that part of the world commonly walk hand in hand

The same is true in many South Pacific island cultures. It doesn't have the same connotation it would here or in Europe.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[malti_poo]

15. Get real, there are pedophiles everywhere.

ntxt

[get the red out]

18. delete

[awoke_in_2003]

36. yes...

and we lock them up when caught.

[mikelgb]

3. What she didn't like the sanctity of her traditional Marriage?

[benld74]

4. I believe in the US, he would be called a PEDOPHILE

[happyslug]

35. Only if he had sex with her, that is NOT claimed in the Article

Mohammad himself married a Six year old (Aisha, daughter of the man who would become the First Caliph, thus this was a clear political marriage), but had no sex with Aisha till Aisha was 10 (and some people question that since Aisha never bore him any children and stayed with him till he died and was his "favorite"). The actual consummation of the marriage between Mohammad and Aisha was done in private but once announced BEFORE it was to be done and afterward both FAMILIES said it took place (This Strengthen the Political connection between the two families, thus it was unimportant is sex actually took place, all that was important is both said it did).

Please remember a Marriage is most of the world is NOT two people agreeing to have sex, but two families agreeing to support those two people as members of both families. The sexual aspect is minor, through essential but only essential when both parties are viewed as of the age to have sex. In the Western World the age of consent (Unless changed by Statute and it has in most of the West) was age 12, in Arab Culture it was age 10. Thus Mohammad had to have "sex" with his wife when she was 10, what that sex act consisted of was between those two, but people have lied before about sex when such lies were expected.

My point is just being Married does NOT mean any sex act occurred, especially at age 8 given Mohammad waited till his wife was ten (and even at that age he is attacked for having sex with someone so young.

This came up about ten years ago in Pennsylvania, a Teacher was caught having sex with his 12 year old student. His defense was he had entered into a Common Law Marriage with his Student and therefore his sex with his student was legal. Went all the way up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, where they had to agree with him. The State General Assembly had NEVER outlawed Common law marriage (The General Assembly did do so effective 1/1/2005) AND had never addressed common law marriage in any statute (The General Assembly, right after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling, made it illegal to entered into any marriage, even a common law marriage before age 18 without permission of one's Parents). Thus at the time of the sex between the Teacher and the Student the only law that was applicable was traditional Common law. Under the Common Law age of Consent to have sex had been age 12 (Modified by statute starting in the late 1800s, but always with an exception for married people). Since married couple were exempt from the act, a valid common law marriage made the any sex LEGAL between the teacher and the 12 year old. The Court then ruled that under the Common Law the age to consent to Marriage had been 12 and since no law (The General Assembly subsequently changed the law but that change did NOT affect the case I am discussing) passed PRIOR to the Consent to this Common Law Marriage forbade such marriages. Once you had a Valid Common Law Marriage consensual sex between the married parties was legal. The court then found that BOTH sides admitted to entering into a Common Law Marriage BEFORE they had sex, neither was already married, so both could marry, and the law did NOT require parental permission to marry, thus the couple entered into a Valid Common Law Marriage and the sex was legal.

My point here is that even in the US having sex with a 12 year old had been legal in Pennsylvania prior to about the late 1990s if the 12 year entered into a valid marriage (and that included a Valid Common Law Marriage and the 12 year old did NOT need to have her parents permission to entered into such a Marriage). Colorado, another Common Law Marriage Jurisdiction, seems to have a similar set of rules, as do most other states that still permit Common Law Marriages. Furthermore, all other states would have to accept these Common Law Marriages as valid under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution, thus once married, the couple could have sex in any state and it NOT be pedophilia.

[LisaM]

5. And we are allies with this country because....????

It's always mystified me that we could get so outraged over Iraq, while there's plenty of crap (including torture) going on with the Saudis.

[No Elephants]

7. The House of Saud is on kissing terms with the House of Bush. Hussein wasn't.

[harmonicon]

13. it's incredibly simple, really

The Iraqi oil was owned by the Iraqis. The Saudi oil is owned by the select few who run the world.

[saigon68]

27. They have the oil

The US ruling class would jump in a lake and fuck the fish

If the Fish had ownership of the oil.

[ConcernedCanuk]

28. LOL - you really have a high opinion of the USA "Ruling Class"

.
.
.

The US ruling class would jump in a lake and fuck the fish

If the Fish had ownership of the oil.

:rofl:

.

.

.




but sadly

.

true

[ohio2007]

6. ....she will be eligible for stoning when she "comes of age",,,

oh

don't think so ?

they won't forget the law's caveats put in her future

[get the red out]

17. Oh I'm sure she will

and I wonder if her mother won't be stoned NOW because of standing up for her child.

[WestSeattle2]

8. This is seriously twisted....and we prop this government up..n/t

[olddad56]

9. what is age but a number, especially when two people are in love.

[Boojatta]

12. Her father and the $13,000 were in love with each other, but...

technically $13,000 isn't a person. A very small corporation worth $13,000 would of course be a person.

[Tab]

19. No, it's not.

It's an "entity".

Of course, she'd probably be better off being married to a corporation.

[aquart]

10. That girl is fortunate in her mother.

[JonLP24]

11. Even 100+ ago years adults didn't marry younger then 14-12 that I know of

Is this normal in Saudi or is he one of the few?

edited to add I read the article after posting and wanted to add back then adults didn't marry teenagers for $13,000. That man and her father is sick and greedy.

[callous taoboy]

30. My great-grandfather, in his 50's, married a 15 year old:

They had 11 children. I think that back in that time period 14, 15, 16 year olds were considered adults. Shorter life span and all...

[Moderate2008]

14. Wow, 8 years old? That is sick. They've got no human rights over there. (nt)

[get the red out]

16. Their "clerics" like it

Their clerics always rule that the pedophile marriages are legal.

We should have nothing to do with this country, I have felt this way for a very long time. The Saudi's also have funded many of the schools in Pakistan that have "educated" the next generation of Al Quaida. Doesn't seem to be creating peace and prosperity for Pakistan does it?

I am convinced that Saudi Arabian aristocracy and clerics are a cancer on this planet.

[Tab]

20. I don't get it...

Paedophilia is one explanation.

Alternatively, often arranged marriages are for building political alliances.

From a sexual point of view, though... I find young girls sexy, but they at least have to be past puberty. I wouldn't go after a, say, 16-year old, but at least I can see the attraction. For relationships, though, I want someone within 15 years of my age, preferably 10 (I'm married to one who is just 5 years younger).

But 8 years old?? That's how old my neice is. I can't relate to that. They're not even into puberty, for goodness sakes, much less know anything about the world.

There are only two explanations in my mind - political alliances, or paedophilia.

[wickerwoman]

23. These kinds of matches are about power, not sexual attraction.

I remember reading about Roma (gypsy) communities in Eastern Europe. It is extremely common to marry twelve or thirteen year old girls to older men because the only way to keep the girls in the community is to have them married and pregnant before they have any idea what they want out of life. Same with polygamous communities in Utah. Marry barely pubescent or even prepubescent girls off, deny them education, burden them with three or four kids before they hit twenty and they'll never leave their husbands because they'll know they have nowhere else to go.

So I doubt that this is about sexual attraction to an eight year old (although it's certainly possible). It's more about some asshole wanting to make sure 1.) that his "wife" is a virgin 2.) that she is easy to control and dominate and 3.) that she will never have an opportunity to leave the community/culture.

He may not even sleep with her for years after they are married but he will ensure that she never has a chance to develop her own sense of self.

[Lorien]

29. Very insightful post . I never thought of it that way

but I think that you've probably nailed it. :thumbsup:

[Blue_Tires]

34. excellent points

[buckrogers1965]

21. Under Muslim law you are an adult

once you reach puberty.

8 years old is 6 or 7 years before puberty.

So even under the most strange interpretation of Muslim law, this marriage would not be legal.

[AlphaCentauri]

22. can we put this individual in the megan law list website, please

:puke:

[gabby garcia]

24. The reality is

even if they raise the minimum age of marriage - these girls and young women still have no rights in regards of consent to marriage. They will continue to be sold and traded as chattel.
:grr:

[Canuckistanian]

25. Irreconcilable differences?

Did he destroy her collection of Barbies? Did she make fun of his prostate problems?

This is bizarre.

[timtom]

31. Now, why, exactly, are we "friends" with these people?

[Tab]

32. Well, they have oil, we need oil

And certain members of the BFEE are in with them.