Name: 為什麼葉門無法禁止童婚和強姦？ (Why Yemen Is Incapable Of Banning Child Marriage and Rape)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T05:02:15.000Z
Duration: 14 min 42 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

Nujood Ali was just an eight-year-old child when her father arranged for her get married.

過去簡單式

She was one of 16 children. She loved school and playing games with her brothers and sisters.

Suddenly I was married. They got me clothes and things so I wore them and they put make-up

on for me. I was young, and I was happy with all these things but I didn't now it was for

The man she married was three times her age. He was a delivery driver who lived in a distant

village. Nujood's father made a deal with his family.

I married her off because of some compelling circumstances. Things were difficult. That

There's something very different about weddings in Yemen. At celebrations like this, the groom

is front and centre but you don't see any women, not even the bride. And when the bride

is a child, she's locked away, sometimes not sure what the celebrations are all about.

They had music playing and they were singing and in the evening everyone went home. And

I was crying. I wanted to go home. They said "You're married. You can't go home." I asked

why. They said "You're married now. You can't go back."

Nujood's father was following a very common practice in Yemen. Parents arrange marriages

for their children when they are very young.

But didn't you think that this child Nujood, just eight years old, that when a man had

intercourse with her, it would cause injury?

I thought... They said he'd only sleep with her after a long period of time.

Puberty, yes. A year after. But the man didn't respect her and he did not respect us.

He sexually assaulted me on the wedding night, forced me. I was with his mother, sister and

sister-in-law. Then his sister-in-law left and his mother and sister stayed. He assaulted

Was his mother there when he sexually assaulted you?

Yes, like this. Of course, I was screaming but no one came to help me.

Under Yemeni law, there is no crime of marital rape and Nujood had no help from her family.

They told her she now belonged to her husband and had to face up to her duty.

I was screaming as loud as I could, crying, I was like begging them but no one...They

said "You're married now. You can't scream or beg anyone."

Nujood's mother Samir believed that the marriage would ease the burden on their family and

We married her off. Our circumstances were difficult and the situation was harsh. We

couldn't feed them or clothe them. We couldn't provide anything. So we married her off. That

Despite her pleas for help, Nujood's family turned their back on her. They said she had

to honour her marriage and avoid shaming the family.

I hoped that my parents would save me from this marriage. But there was no hope of that

though I had high hopes. I went to Dad, my maternal uncle, my paternal uncle, but none

of them would help me. So I thought I'm better off helping myself than asking them to help

With extraordinary courage for a 10-year-old, Nujood set out to end her misery. Choosing

a moment when her husband wasn't looking, she made a bid for freedom.

I ran away. I took public transport. A bus, then taxi. The driver asked "Where do you

want to go?" I said "The court." He said "Which court?" I said "Just the court." I didn't

Nujood arrived at West Sanaa's courthouse where she sat sadly wondering what to do next.

There was a strong possibility the court would decide Nujood was a runaway and return her

to her husband. Instead, she met a judge who was astounded by her age and her courage.

She started to tell me her story. I became even more surprised. Is this for real? "What

happened?" She said "Something black." She was shy so she didn't say "intercourse". When

you say "black", it means bad, not good. Intercourse. "Don't worry. Who is with you?" "I came on

When the families gathered in court, the judge told them that under Sharia law the marriage

was legal. But he declared the husband should have waited until Nujood reached puberty before

having sex with her. So he granted her a divorce.

If we look at Yemeni law... it does not specify a certain age for marriage. Which means that

a marriage contract can take place even if the boy or the girl are still young. But here

we have to differentiate between two things: the marriage procedures and the actual practice

I'd like to ask you a question. Answer me honestly. Are you guilty or not, as regards

The girl's marriage? I'm guilty and the reason for this is poverty.

I wouldn't have married her off otherwise.

Are you thinking of getting married again?

of everything except marriage. I've removed it from my mind, from my thinking.

Ghadir Ali is another young Yemeni girl whose father planned to marry her off to a much

older man. She was just 12 and he wanted to use her dowry to pay off his debts. Ghadir refused.

After you said you refused, what did you do?

I forced her to marry. I said "Either you agree, or I'll kill you."

This was what I said.  "If you don't agree, I'll kill you."

Then her uncles came to the wedding.  And during the procession they took her.

-Her uncles? -Yes. They took her during the procession.

Ghadir's wedding turned into an ugly family fight. Her maternal uncle turned up determined

I only found out about the wedding on the wedding day. I went to her and asked her "So,

girl, are you getting married?" She said "Uncle, I don't want to marry. He forced me." "How

could he force you?" I said. "How could he force you at your age?" I called her father.

Didn't this result in an argument, a gunfight?

Yes, armed men came and this and that and they beat me up.

They beat me up and said "Why are you marrying her off? She's a minor?" "You're marrying

her off? She's a minor, you bastard." I said "I asked you to help me but none of you did."

In the end, the case came down to a legal argument about money, Ghadir's prospective

husband had paid a large dowry and he wanted it back. The court had to decide whether the

Excuse me, sir. I'm the husband's lawyer. Sir, the fact is she consented to the marriage.

She fingerprinted the contract. The father was the one who went to my client and asked him to marry his daughter.