An article that appeared today in Britian’s Telegraph reported on the practices of a tribe in India where girls become prostitutes as a right of passage into adulthood. The Bedia tribe resides in shelters on the side of the road leading to the pink city of Jaipur, approximately 30 miles west of the Taj Mahal.

Here, virgin girls as young as 13 years of age are paraded on the side of the road to attract attention from buses filled with tourists and businessmen from Agra. The article reported that “The “first time” is a valued commodity for which the middle-class businessmen who pass this way are prepared to pay a premium.“

“The normal rate is 100 rupees (£1.30) but a virgin is sold to the highest bidder for anything over 20,000 rupees. If she is very pretty, the community would hope to get up to 40,000 rupees.“

The girls in questions seem to welcome their chosen destiny. The Telegraph reports that Nita (above) has opted to follow her sisters into the trade. It is her own “choice”, because, she giggled, “I won’t have to do any housework.”

You can read the rest of this expose here.

At the other end of the spectrum, a young girl in Yemen is fighting tradition to escape a gruesome fate brought upon her by her own family. This one did not choose what happened to her.

Earlier this week, an unprecedented act by an 8-year-old in Yemen is bringing much attention to an often criticized practice of some families and tribes. Nojoud Mohammed Nasser is posed to quite possibly become the youngest divorcee in the world.

Photo by Hamed Thabet of the Yemen Times

According to the Yemen Times, this brave child walked into Sanaa’s (Yemen’s Capitol City) West court “by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse.“

Nojoud revealed that her innocence was taken with help from her father. “My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me.” Nojoud’s father is said to be of poor mental health. Her ‘husband’ stated that he was indeed intimate with her, but has done nothing wrong “she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me“.

Nasser told the Yemen Times that she was exposed to sexual abuse and domestic violence by her husband. “He used to do bad things to me, and I had no idea as to what a marriage is. I would run from one room to another in order to escape, but in the end he would catch me and beat me and then continued to do what he wanted. I cried so much but no one listened to me. One day I ran away from him and came to the court and talked to them.”

YT noted that according to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.

“I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.” said Nojoud.

More details on this story can be found in the Yemen Times article here.