Nujood Ali, from Yemen, was 10 years old when she was forced to marry a 30-year-old man by her family in 2008. She said “When I got married, I was afraid. I didn’t want to leave home. I wanted to stay with my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad.” Her husband constantly beat and raped her. She describes what she went through as torture. On a visit to her parents house, she escaped to a central court house and requested a divorce two months after her marriage. She eventually got a divorce, but her husband was had to be compensated with $200 instead of being punished (according to the law). Her lawyer donated the money. She said that she “did this so that people would listen and think about not marrying their daughters off as young as she was”. Yemeni Law allows girls at any age to marry, but forbids sex until they are “suitable for intercourse”. In Yemen, about half of all girls are married before they reach age 18. She now attends full time private school, and published a memoir of her experiences in 2009. This kind of story is common in Yemen, but uncommon that she took such a private matter and made it public. A lot of people still condemn Nujood for speaking out and doing what she did. “These girls are living in a misery that no one is talking about,” an advocate for human rights said.
All I can say is, GOOD FOR THIS GIRL. I just cannot believe that she did this at such a young age. This young woman is amazing. She and her lawyer were named Women of the Year in Glamour Magazine and she has been granted lots of media attention. I think these kinds of stories are really, really sad, but empowering. I just get this great feeling when I read about girls doing things to help themselves and help others that are in similar situations. But it is so horrible that thousands of girls have to go through this type of thing.
