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Divorce granted to fifteen year old The age of marriage is something that differs
in each country. In some countries, such as the United States there is an age limit, which
needs to be met before a marriage can take place, in The United States the age limit
is eighteen years of age. On the other hand, in some countries there is no set age limit
for marriage, for instance Saudi Arabia. Thus, in Saudi Arabia early teenagers are allowed
to get married and whoever they want to and this is not a problem.
Recently in Saudi Arabia a man who is believed to be in his seventies got married to a girl
who is about fifteen years old. This elderly man paid the girl's family about close to
twenty thousand dollars in dowry, which is when a bride's husband gives the bride's family
money or property on the day of their marriage. After marriage, the married couple got in
a fight and the girl had nowhere to go so she went back to her family's home, as reported
by a CNN article on January 10th, 2013. Today in Saudi Arabia there is no age limit
for marriage when people have been fighting for years to have one established, however
this has not been granted as yet. The man defended his marriage by claiming that he
thought the girl was in her twenties rather than being a teenager. As a result, Saudi
Arabia's human rights commission began to investigate the matter and a divorce was granted.
There is a huge age gap with this couple and this marriage is viewed as not being a marriage
but as being a sale by the girl's family. People believe that the girl's family sold
her into slavery and the girl's family should be blamed for this.