Radio interview with Nada Al-Ahdal
In this radio interview, Nada Al-Ahdal tells her story: how she escaped a forced child marriage in Yemen, what followed, and how Nada Foundation now works to protect other girls.
Your early childhood
I was like any other child. My dream was to finish my education and become a doctor or a teacher. Then my life changed on the day my family told me that I would be a bride. I was to replace my sister, who had refused the marriage and tried to take her own life.
How did you escape the marriage?
I did not know about the consequences of child marriage, except through the victims in my own family. My aunt tried to escape a violent husband by taking her own life. That did not save her from the marriage; she died. So I did not follow her path.
My sister warned my family that she would harm herself if they married her off. No one believed her, and she did. Even while she was recovering, my family tried to give me to her intended husband in her place. That is when I decided to run away. I escaped, went to the Ministry of Interior and recorded a video telling the world what I was going through.
The video reached 8 million views. How did that feel?
I did not expect the world to react like that. I made the video so that my uncle would see it and come to save me. But I was very glad that my voice reached everyone who did not know much about child marriage.
I realised that what happened to my aunt and my sister, and almost happened to me, was not a family problem, as I had thought. It is a global problem. Generations have suffered from it, and our generation still does.
Why did your uncle support you?
I chose my uncle from among my seven uncles. In my family he was known for supporting girls' education, and he was the only one who had completed his own education. I hoped he would understand and protect me, and he did not let me down.
You were held by the Ministry of Interior. Why?
I was returning from Lebanon, where I had given an interview to Al-Jadeed TV. When I got back to Yemen, my passport was taken. I was detained at the Ministry of Interior and forced to sign a document promising not to appear in the media. The aim was to hide my story and cover up child marriage crimes in Yemen.
How did the threats affect you?
They affected me badly, and I felt unsafe. I saw that, despite all the victims of this crime in Yemen, some people work to cover it up and threaten activists and anyone who tries to show the truth. But I came through this crisis and turned it into strength. I became a fighter against this crime with all my power and faith.
You were abducted for 14 days. What happened?
My story was turned into a book and printed in French, German and Dutch. When I was invited to France to sign the book, I tried to fly from Sana'a, but the war had closed the airport. So I had to fly from Aden, which was then the capital of Yemen.
When I arrived, ISIS kidnapped me and my uncle for 14 days. For the first 3 days I did not see the light, because I was blindfolded. After the assassination of the governor of Aden, ISIS had to change its location. I was then released and left Yemen.
Nada Foundation's awareness programme
At Nada Foundation we launched a programme on children's rights, the dangers of child marriage, the recruitment of child soldiers and the importance of education. Many girls have been affected by it.
One of them is a girl who was abused by her parents. We contacted the public prosecutor, and her care was moved from her father to her grandmother. She now lives with her grandmother and receives a yearly grant to study at a private school. She amazes us by coming first in her class every year. She is now in her third year of school, and she is a very brave girl.
Through Our Dreams Thrive we teach girls English. We were surprised by the reaction of communities and villages, because we work on practising the language, not only teaching it. The girls have passed their English on to their families and communities and use it every day, so many people now practise it with them.
This feedback made us happy. It pushes us to continue and to keep improving our programmes.
Is there a law against child marriage in Yemen?
Currently, there is not. We were close to a law criminalising child marriage through the National Dialogue Conference, which was to build a new constitution for Yemen. But the civil war halted that project and all the conference's outcomes.
I think both law and awareness are important. A law without awareness will not be applied, and people will marry off their daughters outside the law. The two must go together to stop this crime.
How do girls reach the Safe Havens project?
Our Safe Havens project helps girls forced into marriage as minors and girls who have suffered domestic violence. When a girl contacts us or reaches the foundation, volunteers talk to her family to confirm the facts and try to change the family's views. We try to return her home with security guarantees and the help of the police.
If we cannot reach a solution with her family and feel that going back would put her at risk, we place her with another family that has been trained to care for girls looking for a safe place. With the help of the police, we keep her protected and her location confidential so that her family cannot harm her. We enrol her at the nearest private school.
We keep following up with her family and send them messages every year, without mentioning her location or our foundation. If we find that her return is safe, the police stay in touch with her family to make sure she is safe, and we keep checking on her and her education.
Teaching English to 10,000 girls in camps for displaced people
The project was carried out in schools and in villages where we could find volunteer teachers.
We chose English because it is the first door to girls' futures and ambitions, and it can make it easier for them to find jobs. It also lets girls speak to the world about their suffering. We can build women leaders for the future who will carry girls' voices to the world.
What keeps you going?
I believe that, as long as I had the chance to survive, other girls must be given the same chance. So I decided to give my life and all my efforts to defending girls who die because of this crime. I will not stand by and watch girls lose their lives, as happened to my aunt and my sister.