Child divorcee, aged *10*, writes about experience

[Charles Martel]

Schoolgirl divorcee, 10, launches book about shocking child bride ordeal

Divocee Nojoud Ali, 10, has written a book about being a child bride in Yemen

A schoolgirl who was married by the age of eight today launched a new book about her extraordinary ordeal.

Nojoud Ali, now aged 10, is in Paris promoting an autobiography which is set to be a worldwide bestseller.

British publishers are already queuing up for the rights to a story which has been taken up by women’s rights groups worldwide.

Last year a court in Yemen annulled Nojoud’s arranged marriage to a 29-year-old man.

The minimum age for marriage is currently 15 years-old in the country, but parents are allowed to overrule the law if they judge that their daughter is ‘ready’ for marriage.

Noujoud’s strict Muslim family had decided she was, forcing her to go and live with Faez Ali Thameur.

The pair did consummate the marriage, it is claimed.

More at: Daily Mail


And here is their historical justification for this hideous behaviour which has no place in the modern world:

Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65
Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: I have been informed that 'Aisha remained with the Prophet for nine years (i.e. till his death)." what you know of the Quran (by heart)'

[tarrant]

Plenty of other historical examples as well.

Several English kings for example.

Such marriages were quite common among the European aristocracy until the 17th or 18th centuaries.

[Charles Martel]

Riiiiiight! And the practice of child marriages are still practiced in Europe, and Judeo-Christian & secular Europeans justify child marriages on the basis of the distant past? Even the marriages you wrote about smugly invariably do not involve girls as young as the cases seen here and in the case of the child molester Mohammed.

[tarrant]

You cited the historical example quoting from some 6th century text.

Child marriage is quite common in many parts of the world including much of Africa, among aborginal peoples in Australia and in a number of other very ancient societies.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage

[Charles Martel]

Are child marriages still tolerated in Australia? I doubt it. It only practiced to any significant degree in less evolved cultures such as the one mentioned in #1.

You are nothing but an insufferable apologist.

[lala]

Riiiiiight! And the practice of child marriages are still practiced in Europe, and Judeo-Christian & secular Europeans justify child marriages on the basis of the distant past? Even the marriages you wrote about smugly invariably do not involve girls as young as the cases seen here and in the case of the child molester Mohammed.

Yes, indeed. We call it child abuse, as do the Yemeni authorities, and both the father and the 'husband' ended up in jail, a point missed by both you and the Daily Mail.

This is the story, as told by the Yemen Times.

SANA’A, April 9 - An eight-year-old girl decided last week to go the Sana’a West Court to prosecute her father, who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man.

Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse.

According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.

“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. “I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,” she said.

Nasser said that she was exposed to sexual abuse and domestic violence by her husband. “He used to do bad things to me, and I had no idea as to what a marriage is. I would run from one room to another in order to escape, but in the end he would catch me and beat me and then continued to do what he wanted. I cried so much but no one listened to me. One day I ran away from him and came to the court and talked to them.”

“Whenever I wanted to play in the yard he beat me and asked me to go to the bedroom with him. This lasted for two months," added Nasser. "He was too tough with me, and whenever I asked him for mercy, he beat me and slapped me and then used me. I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.”

Nasser’s uncle, who does not want to reveal his name, is following the case now as her guardian. According to her uncle, after Muhammed Nasser, the girl's father, lost his job as a garbage truck driver in Hajjah, he became a beggar, and soon after suffered from mental problems.

Thamer is in jail now. “Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said. "But if the judge or other people insist that I divorce her, I will do it, it’s ok.”

So far, no accusations have been made against her father, who was later released due to health problems, or Nasser's husband, who will remain in jail for further investigation.

“So far there is no case and no charges, as Nojoud arrived by herself to court asking just for a divorce,“ said Shatha Ali Nasser, a lawyer in the Supreme Court who is following Nojoud Nasser’s story.

Shatha Ali Nasser confirmed that item number 15 in Yemeni civil law reads that “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." However, this item was amended in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature,” said Nasser.“This law is highly dangerous because it brings an end to a young girl’s happiness and future fruitful life. Nojoud did not get married, but she was raped by a 30-year old man.”

Nasser confirmed that Nojoud Nasser’s case is not the first of its kind in Yemen, but it is the first time that a girl went to court by herself to ask for a divorce.

“We are not planning to return Nojoud to her family. Who knows? Maybe after a few years the same thing will happen to her again," said Shatha Ali Nasser. "We are planning to put her in Dar Al-Rahama [an non-governmental organization that works with children], where she can have a better life and education. We do not want her family to pay her expenses, as they are poor.”

(www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1145&p=front&a=2)

[Marshall]

"Arrived at court by herself" - that's a brave little girl.
And shame on her mother for standing by and allowing this to happen.

[vania]

I was about to comment on the bravery, self-awareness and intelligence of the girl. There are few abuse victims of her age who would have done as she did.

However Thank you to Lala for the article and shame on the Daily Mail for their slanted presentation. Good to know that she happened upon an intelligent judge.

[Marshall]

Yeah, what that little girl did, taking matters into her own hands at the age of 8 in a world of adults (and a medieval one at that), is nothing short of inspirational.