11-year-old girl's eloquent speech against child marriage goes viral

Among the many trending videos on YouTube is a moving tale of an 11-year-old from Yemen. 

Nada al-Ahdal was forced by her parents to marry a much older man, only she was too determined to not let that fate befall her. Nada then fled from home to her uncle, to protect the innocence of her childhood and her right to education. “I would have no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion?" rues the 11-year old in the video. 

This YouTube video (see below) of Nada – roughly 3 minutes long – sees her recount her horror tale. The YouTube video has garnered over 5,323,200 views already and is also popular on Reddit, where it was initially submitted. Nada’s tale was also covered by the likes of MSN and Huffington Post.

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Child marriage is a grave issue in the developing world. Each year, year after year, depressing statistics are put up, effectively stating that the problem is far from gone. Nada, in her video, recounts the tragic death of her maternal aunt at the hands of the latter’s abusive husband. “He would beat her with metal (chains). He would get drunk,” she elaborates.

While what Nada did is absolutely gritty and commendable, it sadly is also a rare case. “I managed to solve my problem, but some innocent children can’t solve theirs,” she says. Many victims of child marriage succumb to it. “Some children decided to throw themselves into the sea. They’re dead now,” she laments.

Cover image credit: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)