Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council has approved regulations to limit child marriages, but what are the reactions from human rights experts and the Saudi population?
ADVERTISEMENTSaudi Arabia’s Shura Council, an advisory body to the Saudi government, has voted to approve regulations on limiting marriages of those under 18 years of age.
Specifically, the council voted in favour of banning marriages involving children under 15 years old, while some exceptions could still be made for those between the ages of 15-18, the council confirmed in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
Around one in five young women in the Middle East and North Africa get married under the age of 18, with one in 25 girls getting married before their 15th birthday, according to a 2018 report from UNICEF.
Several council members publicly lauded Wednesday’s vote, thanking others for helping create the recommendation to apply a minimum age for marriage, something the Gulf kingdom does not yet have.
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