Divorcee, 8, Tells of Abuse in Yemen

An 8-year-old girl granted a divorce by a Yemeni court last week has described how she ran from "room to room" to escape her 30-year-old husband until he "beat me and then did what he wanted," reports ABC News. "I cried so much, but no one listened to me." The girl, forced into the arranged marriage by her father, fled early this month to a nearby courthouse, where a lawyer agreed to take her case.

The girl talked about her experiences to reporters after a judge terminated her two-month marriage because she hadn't reached puberty, and placed her in her uncle's custody. Her family must pay $250 in compensation to the ex-husband. Experts suspect many other similar cases in Yemen, where half of females are married before the age of 18. (More Yemen stories.)