I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Notes

Delphine Minou has supplied notes for the convenience of the reader; a few translator’s notes have been added where appropriate for this American edition.

culture of khat

When chewed, the leaves of the khat plant produce an effect of euphoria that allows the user to forget hunger and fatigue. Other side effects include emotional instability, manic behavior, and hallucinations, while withdrawal symptoms can range from irritability to lethargy and depression. The World Health Organization has classified khat as a drug of abuse that can produce psychological dependence, and although it has been outlawed in many countries, this narcotic is sold freely in Yemen. Its consumption, predominantly by men, is a time-honored social ritual so widespread that khat has become the country’s main agricultural product, absorbing more than two thirds of the nation’s annual water resources in a country facing a serious threat of water shortages in the near future.-Translator’s note

niqabs that match their long black robes

The niqab is a veil that covers the face, allowing only the eyes to be seen. It is worn most commonly by Muslim women in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf-Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman-and is also common in Turkey, Pakistan, and Iraq.

two months and four years

Yemen has one of the highest rates of infant mortality and maternal deaths during childbirth in the world.

real rhinoceros horn

Since the jambia handle often indicates the social status of the wearer, daggers made with real-and necessarily smuggled-rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory are much more prized than ones with handles of ordinary bone or horn.-Translator’s note

object of child trafficking

The trafficking of Yemeni children in Saudi Arabia is a plague affecting all disadvantaged youngsters who do not go to school. Some local nongovernmental organizations estimate that thirty percent of the school-age children living near the border with Saudi Arabia leave each year to try their luck in their northern neighbor, where work conditions are appalling, and although the subject is taboo in Yemeni families, cases of sexual abuse have been recorded.

the tradition of sighar

Still rather widespread in rural and poor urban areas, the ancient custom of sighar, or “marriage ex change,” involves giving a younger sister of the groom to a member of his bride’s family as a dowry. In Yemen, dowries have great social and economic importance, and are customarily negotiated before a wedding by the men of both families.

legal age of fifteen

In 1999, it became legal in Yemen for parents to give their daughters in marriage before the age of fifteen, provided that the husband promises not to touch his wife until she has reached puberty-a provision so vague that it welcomes arbitrary interpretations and is rarely respected.

“ Too young? When the prophet …”

The reference to the marriage of the Prophet reflects widespread misunderstanding of the fact, as pointed out by scholars, that the marriage between Mohammad and Aïsha (“Mother of the Faithful”) was God’s wish.

the Houthi rebels

In 2004, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a leader of the minority Zaidi sect of Shiite Islam, began a bloody rebellion in northern Yemen and around Sana’a in an attempt to overthrow President Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, break Yemen’s ties to the United States, and restore the Shiite imamate that was toppled in 1962. The rebels, currently led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, appear to control much of Sa’ada Province, on the northwestern border with Saudi Arabia, and recent fighting between the army and Houthi forces has destroyed entire villages, left thousands dead, and driven tens of thousands from their homes.-Translator’s note

the black veils usually worn

According to local lore in Sana’a, women began to veil themselves in black when the Imam Yahya seized power in northern Yemen following the demise of the Ottoman Empire. Imam Yahya sought to establish a stable, modern state, but was himself assassinated in an attempted coup in February 1948.-Translator’s note

who fights for women’s rights

In 1999, Shada Nasser achieved notoriety with her defense of Amina Ali Abduladif, married at the age of ten and condemned to death by a Yemeni court after being convicted of killing her husband. Due to an unprecedented public outcry, the capital sentence was finally suspended in 2005. Amina was at last released, after spending some ten years behind bars, but she lives in hiding, fearing the vengeance of her in-laws.

the army checkpoint

Al Qaeda has a growing presence in Yemen, and the authorities have increased security measures, especially on the road to the airport. In a worsening crisis, the Yemeni government now battles three insurgencies: the Houthi rebels in the north, Al Qaeda terrorists seeking to establish a regional base in the country, and a southern secessionist movement fighting under the banner of the formerly independent South Yemen.-Translator’s note

her self-confidence Delphine Minoui, “Nojoud, 10 ans, divorcée au Yemen,” Le Figaro, June 24, 2008.

before the age of eighteen Early Marriage in Yemen: A Base Line Story to Com bat Early Marriage in Hadramout and Hadeyda Governates, Sana’a University, 2006. According to this study, early marriages are the main reason why Yemeni girls lack access to education. In Yemen, seventy percent of women are illiterate.