10 Year Old Gets Divorced

Kristof, Nicholas. “Divorced by Puberty.” New York Times. 04 March 2010: A35. Print.

This article is about a young girl named Nujood Ali. Nujood lives in Yemen, a country where child brides are common and women have very little rights. Her family made her marry a delivery man who was in his thirties when she was only ten years old. Once they were married, Nujood was forced to drop out of school so she could take care of her new husband. Throughout the time that she was married, her husband beat her and forced her to have sex with him. Nujood decided that she wanted a divorce and went down to the courthouse to get one. Her case was publicly recognized and because of her story other underage girls decided to get divorces. Nujood is now considered and activist for women's rights and when she arrived in the U.S. she was named women of the year by Glamour magazine. At first Nujood was shunned by family but she now has a book being published titled, "I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced." She is now going to school and wants to become a lawyer. Because of the royalties from her book her family has forgiven her because she is considered the main "breadwinner" in the home.

I found this article very interesting and I really like discussing issues like this and getting other people's opinion. In many third world countries it is common for young girls to be forced into marriage by the parents. Some countries will arrange marriages for two children; however, young girls are also married to men that are decades older than them. Although this is a common practice and considered normal to people living in the country, I believe that young girls should not be married to older men. How can a middle-aged man be considered respectable to society if he has a wife that is not even a teenager? These girls are too young to understand the concept of marriage and the responsibilities that come along with it. Ever person should have the right to choose who they want to spend the rest of their life with. I am happy for Nujood and it is good to see that she is helping other people that are in the same situation. Hopefully practices like this will be banned in the future because children getting married against their will is just wrong.