Saudi Judge: 8-Year-Old OK To Marry; Not OK To Divorce

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.

The girl was allowed to divorce the 50-year-old man 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. They were married in August.

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. (note from the Daily Dude: She's old enough to get hitched to a pervert but not old enough to say she wants out?)

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. There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, marriage officials don't always seek it.