8 year-old girl gets divorce from 47 year-old husband

Saudi Arabia had a rare showing of logic in the case of women’s (girls’?) rights by allowing an 8 year-old girl a divorce from her 47 year-old husband who didn’t want to see her go

“And then he said, ‘No, that’s my CAMEL!’”

A court in Saudi Arabia has granted an 8-year-old girl a divorce from her 47-year-old husband, after twice denying the divorce request previously, local media reported Thursday.

The marriage sparked condemnations around the world from human rights groups and U.S. and other government officials when it first came to light in December.

Local media, which is highly regulated by the Saudi government, reported that the court in the city of Onaiza approved the divorce decree Thursday, and the divorce is final.

A source at the court told the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan that the divorce “came after a series of pleas made by a number of officials in the region to the husband.”

The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative Saudi kingdom recently. While rights groups have petitioned the government for laws to protect children from such marriages, the kingdom’s top cleric has said that it’s OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.

“It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger,” Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s grand mufti, said in January, according to the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. “A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she’s too young are wrong, and they are being unfair to her.”

Good to see that some Saudi men are still fighting the good fight. Though, in fairness, he’s saying girls age 10 can marry. This girl is a mere TWENTY PERCENT younger than that. Plus he’s right, it’s unfair to the girl. What prepubescent girl hasn’t come of age mentally and thought, “One day, I hope to have a sweaty 50 year-old man draping his hummus-smelling balls on my chin. And by one day, I mean like, next Thursday.”

When reached for comment, the 8 year-old girl said, “Where’s my mommy? Can I do fingerpainting now?” So brave and mature in the face of such a tumultuous time.

[via]

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