Nujud Ali from Yemen became the youngest divorced girl in the world.
However, neither the divorce from her rapist husband, nor the victory in court, nor even the title of “Woman of the Year” brought her happiness.
Nujud was married when she was only 9 years old – the family feared that the girl might be kidnapped – this is exactly what happened to one of her older sisters.
Under the terms of the marriage contract (or, rather, the agreement between the girl's father and her future husband), the 30-year-old courier was obliged to take care of his wife until the age of 18. But this did not happen – the husband beat and raped his young wife.
Unable to withstand the bullying, Nujud fled from the tyrant, but she had nowhere to go – the family was poor, and an extra mouth in the house was simply not needed: the beggar head of the family, his two wives and their 16 children were hardly happy to see the girl again, whose fate was considered arranged. In addition, according to Yemeni traditions, the return of a married woman to her father is a shame on his head.
Then the girl decided to go to court. Nujud was lucky – Shada Nasser, the first woman lawyer in Yemen's history, undertook to represent her. Together they won a victory, and the girl received a divorce. True, she was obliged to pay her ex-husband a fairly large compensation ($ 200 in local equivalent), but even then the lawyer helped her out.
Later, in co-authorship with the famous journalist Dolphin, Minui Nujud wrote an autobiographical book “I am 10 years old and I am divorced”, which became a bestseller and brought the authors good money. But all Nujud's fees went to her father, who promised to set aside funds for her daughter's studies. But he did not keep his word – all the money was spent, including on the “acquisition” of a third wife for the head of the family, and Nujud never finished school.
Despite the resonance all over the world and receiving the title of “Women of the Year” in 2008, Nujud's fate did not work out – the authorities took her passport so that she could not leave the country, and her father simply kicked out of the house.
“Marriage was invented to make girls unhappy,” Nujud wrote in her book. But when she turned 16, she changed her name and remarried. And nothing else is known about her.
