I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced »

NUJOOD ALI was the first child bride in Yemen to win a divorce. Named a Glamour Woman of the Year in 2008, she has been profiled in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Time magazine. She lives in Yemen.
 
DELPHINE MINOUI, a recipient of the Albert Loudres Prize, has been covering Iran and the Middle East since 1997. She lives in Beirut.

"I'm a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no."

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...

The Washington Post - Isobel Coleman

…a shocking book that captures the social challenges facing Yemen better than any scholarly work could hope to do.

Nujood, a Modern-Day Heroine 7

1 In Court 13

2 Khardji 23

3 The Judge 41

4 The Wedding 49

5 Shada 79

6 Running Away 89

7 The Divorce 107

8 The Birthday 121

9 Mona 129

10 The Return of Fares 141

11 When I Become a Lawyer... 153

Epilogue 169

Acknowledgments 177

Notes 179