Divorced at 10?

I understand that all cultures are different, and far be it for me to judge.

But, still, I find this to be disturbing.

In Sana, Yemen, Nujood Ali, a ten year old girl, was married off to a man in his thirties who raped and abused her. According to reports, this is a common practice in Yemen.

The Yemeni often marry off their young girls to protect the family honor. They are afraid that if their daughters remain unmarried, they may run off with a man and disgrace the family.

In Nujood’s case, her parents were impoverished and asked her husband to raise her. He promised her father that he would not have sex with her until she reached puberty. The age of consent in Yemen is 15.

But he reneged on that promise. He forced Nujood to have sex with him and abused her. Nujood begged her parents to help her, and although they felt for her, they basically told her there was nothing they could do.

She belonged to her husband.

Showing an ultimate amount of bravery, Nujood went to the local courthouse and demanded a divorce. She explained to the judge what was happening and how she was being treated. She won, and obtained a divorce.

Now, what makes this story sad is the fact that nothing happened to her husband. He was not charged or jailed. In fact, Nujood had to pay him $200 for getting divorced.

That’s amazing.

Nujood said that she hoped her actions would help other young Yemeni girls who are suffering the same fate. Unfortunately, though, there are many in her country who ostracize her for coming forward and telling her story.

They feel that she should have stayed silent, and allowed the mistreatment to continue.

The publicity from Nujood’s case has caused some people in Yemen to ask that the legal age of marriage be raised to 18 for both men and women.

Lawmakers have refused to take up the issue.

Why should they?

It’s culture.

The Wizard has spoken.