“Nujood's rebellion, honorable in our eyes, is moreover considered by conservatives as an outrageous affront, punishable, according to extremist, by a murderous "honor crime.".
Synopsis (from Amazon)
Forced by her father to marry a man three times her age, young Nujood Ali was sent away from her parents and beloved sisters and made to live with her husband and his family in an isolated village in rural Yemen. There she suffered daily from physical and emotional abuse by her mother-in-law and nightly at the rough hands of her spouse. Flouting his oath to wait to have sexual relations with Nujood until she was no longer a child, he took her virginity on their wedding night. She was only ten years old.
Unable to endure the pain and distress any longer, Nujood fled—not for home, but to the courthouse of the capital, paying for a taxi ride with a few precious coins of bread money. When a renowned Yemeni lawyer heard about the young victim, she took on Nujood’s case and fought the archaic system in a country where almost half the girls are married while still under the legal age. Since their unprecedented victory in April 2008, Nujood’s courageous defiance of both Yemeni customs and her own family has attracted a storm of international attention. Her story even incited change in Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, where underage marriage laws are being increasingly enforced and other child brides have been granted divorces.
Rants & Raves
I enjoyed reading survival stories. I was touched by Nujood's courage and resiliency. Ten years old, forced to marry a man who's 25 years older, sexually and physically abused by her husband and mother-in-law and a prisoner to her own culture. Barely literate, she was able to obtain a divorce. I guess she's the youngest divorcee.
I was in doubt if the whole detail is from Nujood or from Delphine Minoui, the translator. Could there be more? Are there any parts that got lost in translation? There are times that the voice of the story did not come from a barely literate ten year old. Just the same, I'm glad its publication has reached and touched many young girls who found courage in saying "NO" in spite of their family and tradition.
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