Nojoud Gets Divorce

Remember Nojoud, who at age 8 sought a divorce from her 30 year-old husband? Before she was old enough to need acne treatment she was married off and forced to endure rape and beatings at the hands of a man almost 4 times her age.

Well, apparently Nohoud’s real name is Nujood Ali and the original article from the Yemen Times was trying to protect her identity by calling her by her lawyer’s last name. The only reason this is even a little bit important right now is because Nujood was finally granted her divorce with the help of human rights activists throughout the Middle East.

The story is really heartbreaking. Here is a little girl who still likes to watch cartoons and play with dolls being forced to act like a grown woman. She was forced into marriage by her impoverished father, who is just too stupid to figure out any other way to save money.

Nujood’s unemployed father, Ali Mohammed Ahdal, has two wives and 16 children. He arranged to have Nujood married in February to Faez Ali Thamer, a 30-something motorcycle delivery man.

Nujood’s parents say they were trying to do what was best for their daughter and did not even receive a dowry, a claim many Yemenis do not believe.

The parents say the groom had promised he would not have sex with her until she reached puberty.

“We asked him to raise her,” said Shuaieh, the girl’s mother.

The groom has disputed that claim. Nujood said she had looked forward to getting married without understanding what it really meant.

As a wedding gift, she received three new dresses and a $20 wedding ring.

The trouble started on the first night when Mr Thamer demanded they share a mattress. She resisted, walking out of the room, only to have him follow. Sometimes he beat her into submission. For weeks, she cried all day and dreaded the nights.

During a visit to her parents, she wept, saying that her husband was doing unmentionable things to her. Her father said there was nothing he could do.

Nujood ended up escaping and finding help in the Yemen legal system. A Yemen judge gave her shelter and allowed her a first glimpse of children’s television and a lawyer offered her services at no charge. Another attorney paid the $250 Nujood’s husband was demanding in return for agreeing to a divorce. She was eventually returned to her family, who was slightly richer because of Nujood’s story. Her father promises never to try to marry her off again.

Many people in the international community are calling for Yemen laws to be changed, but the conservative courts see no reason for it. Right now Yemen allows girls as young as 15 to be married, though tribal customs allow for girls much younger to be married off at their fathers’ whim.

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