Divorcee at 12 Years

Some change the world really young. In 2008, a Saudi court had rejected a plea to divorce an eight-year-old girl married off to a man who was 58, saying the case should wait until the girl reaches puberty.

Some change the world really young. In 2008, a Saudi court had rejected a plea to divorce an eight-year-old girl married off to a man who was 58, saying the case should wait until the girl reaches puberty. Notwithstanding that absurd order, recently a 12-year-old successfully managed to get a divorce from an 80-year-old man. In exchange for a hefty dowry, the girl, then 11, was married to her father’s cousin last year. After she protested against her marriage, the case got tremendous attention in the international media, and the state-run Human Rights Commission agreed to represent her in court proceedings. It has now been reported that that the girl and her family have come to an agreement, allowing for a privately settled divorce. The Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia is attempting to use the case to establish a minimum marriage age of 16. “The main aim is to not allow cases like this to happen again,” Alanoud al-Hejailan, a lawyer with Human Rights Commission, told a British newspaper. “There will be some opposition, of course, but we feel that public opinion has changed on this issue.”

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