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memri
Jan 01, 2009
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Saudi Society for the Defense of Women's Rights Launches Internet Campaign to Ban Child Marriage by Law

#2023 | 06:36
Source: Online Platforms

Following are excerpts from a campaign launched by the Saudi Society for Defense of Women's Rights against child marriage, which aired on the Internet in January, 2009.

Title: I'm a child not a woman.

Title: Please protect my childhood by law.

Newspaper headline"The Mufti of Saudi Arabia Permits Marriage of Ten-Year-Old Girld"

Interviewer: How old are you? Could you please raise your voice?

Ten-year-old girl: I am ten.

Interviewer: You are ten? Can a ten-year-old girl get married?

Girl: No.

Interviewer: Why can't she get married?

Girl: Because she's too small.

Interviewer: Because she's too small. Thank you, dear.

Newspaper headline: "The 'Uneiza Girl's Marriage: Marriage Annulment Refused"

Interviewer: How old are you?

Second ten-year-old girl: Ten.

Interviewer: Ten years old? Can a ten-year-old girl get married?

Girl: No.

Interviewer: Why? Because she's what?

Girl: She's too small.

Interviewer: Thank you, dear.

Newspaper headline: "The Husband of the 'Uneiza Girl Adds Her Name to the Family Identity Card"

Interviewer: How old are you?

Eight-year-old girl: I am eight.

Interviewer: And how old are you?

Nine-year-old girl: I am nine.

Interviewer: What do you think? Can girls your age be married?

Eight-year-old girl: No

Interviewer: Why not?

Eight-year-old girl: Because we are too small.

Interviewer: Do you agree with this?

Nine-year-old girl: Yes.

Interviewer: In other words, children should not be married?

Eight-year-old girl: Right.

Interviewer: Thank you.

Twelve-year-old girl: I am 12 years old. I am a child, not a woman. How can they marry off children? I hope to become an engineer when I grow up.

Newspaper headline: "It Is Permitted to Marry a Child When She Can Bear the Burden"

Interviewer: How old are you?

Sixteen-year-old girl: I am 16 years old.

Interviewer: Do you think a girl your age can get married?

Girl: Of course not.

Interviewer: Why not?

Girl : Because she can't handle the responsibility of a family, a home, a husband, pregnancy, and so on. This is a great responsibility. It is hard.

Newspaper headline: "Legal Activist Requests Two Ministries to Prevent the Marriage of Her Two Minor Daughters"

Interviewer: How old are you?

Thirteen-year-old girl: I am 13.

Interviewer: Do you think a girl your age can get married?

Girl: No.

Interviewer: Why not?

Girl: Because she is young and doesn't know anything about marriage.

Interviewer: So you would not agree to be married now?

Girl: Of course not.

Interviewer: Thank you.

Newspaper headline: "Saudi Lawyer Volunteers to Help Two Girls Who Were Forced to Marry"

 

Interviewer: Hello, girls.

Girls: Hi.

Interviewer: May I ask how old you are?

Twenty-year-old: I am 20.

Sixteen-year-old: I am 16.

Interviewer: What do you think about child marriages?

Twenty-year-old: To be honest, we do not support this. First of all, there is a big difference in the way they think. The girl is young and can't handle the responsibility of marriage. This is a heavy responsibility.

Interviewer: Do you think there should be a legal age limit?

Sixteen-year-old: Sure, that's how it is all over the world.

Interviewer: What is the age?

Sixteen-year-old: 18 is the accepted age.

Fourteen-year-old girl: I am 14 years old.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Seventeen-year-old: I am 17.

Interviewer: Would you want to be married at your age?

Both girls: No. Of course not.

Interviewer: How come?

Fourteen-year-old: Because we are young. How can we get married when we are still too small? We don't know how to raise our siblings, so how could we raise children?

Seventeen-year-old: I have hopes for the future. If I get married, how can I raise children? I am thinking about my future.

Newspaper headline: "The Human Rights Association Strives to Put an End to Child Marriage"

[...]

Interviewer: You are six years old. Do you go to school? What grade are you in?

Six-year-old girl: First grade.

Interviewer: Can a girl in first grade be married?

Girl: No.

Interviewer: Why not?

Girl: Because she is too small.

[...]

Thirteen-year-old girl: I am 13 years old. I am too young to be married. I want the law to protect us, so we will not be married at the age of ten plus. I have aspirations. I am still young, I haven't seen the world yet. We are still children, how can we raise children? We cannot be expected to raise children, while we are still young. I would like to become a scientist. I don't want this responsibility. We ask you, our Father [King] Abdallah, to protect us by law, so that we get married only at the legal age.

Newspaper headline: "An Attempt to Marry Off Two Children – One Aged 5 – Was Thwarted"

Newspaper headline: "UNICEF Warns against Child Marriage"

Crying Child: I don't want to get married.

Title: No to Child Marriages

Title: The Prophet Muhammad said: "They will be honored only by the honorable, and they will be humiliated only by the depraved."

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