Child Marriage Still Rampant in Sudan
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, you're watching News Stream, and these are your world headlines.</s>LU STOUT: U.S. House lawmakers are just a few hours away from voting on two immigration bills. Those measures promise funds for Donald Trump's border wall, and provide a path to citizenship for people who are brought to the U.S. illegally as children by their parents, but they don't address what will happen to 2,300 children who have been separated from their families at the border. Hungary's government is refusing to soften its hard-line approach to immigration. On Wednesday, the country's parliament made it illegal to help undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers. The new law is expected to take effect in the next few weeks. The wife of Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been charged with fraud, and breach of trust. Prosecutors say Sara Netanyahu used state money to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals at the prime minister's residence for three years that totaled $100,000. She has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the past. Now, I want to follow up with the story that we have been following out of Sudan. Noura Hussein was just 13 years old when she was forced into marriage. Now, she is on death row for killing her abusive husband. It is a verdict that has caused outrage around the world, and sadly, it is a familiar tale in Sudan. Now, CNN's Nima Elbagir joins us me now live from London. Nima, you and your team traveled to Sudan to learn more about Noura and this pervasive crime of child marriage and gender-based violence. What did you uncover there?</s>NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were able to obtain through sources Noura's own accounting of what happened to her. And I have to warn you, Kristie, it makes so pretty (ph) difficult listening. Take a look at this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): I had no idea how I got there. I was still carrying the knife. He told my parents that he wanted to marry me. The first time I even saw him was a week after he proposed a marriage to my uncle. I told him, I don't want to marry, I want to study. I was in the eighth grade. And they fooled me.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): These are the words of Sudanese teenager Noura Hussein. For her safety, this is not her voice, but it is Noura's story in her own words.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): They did all the usual rituals for the wedding. I was overwhelmed with anger. I didn't want this man. I sat in the hairdresser, contemplating suicide.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): This is Noura on her wedding day. Noura is on death row. Convicted of the murder of her 35-year-old husband. Noura's case has caused controversy across Sudan. A controversy Sudan's government has refused to comment on. Noura's husband's family have withheld activists, threatened violence against her supporters. They also refused CNN's request for comment. The badly-kept secret here is more that more than a third of marriages in Sudan are child marriages, a number that is rising, aggravated by the financial realities in Sudan and a law that sets the legal age of marriage at 10. But some brave little girls are choosing to speak out.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): This is Emily's (ph) story and Emily's (ph) own voice. For her safety, we're not showing her face. Emily (ph) is seeking a divorce from her abusive husband.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): When it's all over, Emily (ph) wants to be a doctor. Beside her, her father wipes away tears. Unlike Noura, Emily's (ph) father is here and supported her.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): Her father promises only to think harder, the next time a proposal for marriage comes to his underage daughter.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): Nahid Jabrallah's office walls are adorned with art from rescued child victims. Centre Sima is one of the organizations fighting on Noura's behalf. It works to combat violence against women and forced marriage in spite of a regular diet of threats.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): We arrived at the honeymoon flat. I locked myself inside one of the rooms. I refused to eat. I refused to leave my room. On the ninth day, his relatives came. His uncle told me to go to the bedroom. I said no. So he dragged me by my arm into the bedroom. All of them tore at my clothing. His uncle held me down by my legs. And each of the other two held down my arm. He stripped and had me while I wept and screamed. I was bleeding. I slept naked.</s>ELBAGIR (voice over): A familiar childhood ritual. Part and parcel of growing up. Women and girls across Sudan are fighting for the right to a childhood. Against laws that legalize child marriage, laws that don't recognize marital rape, laws that empower their abusers. Noura still had the knife in her hands when she fled to her parents' home. It was her own father who handed her to the police. And it's there that she learned that she killed her husband. She's now awaiting the results of her appeal.</s>ELBAGIR: There is absolutely no sense, Kristie, how long that appeal could take. She is essentially watching and waiting.</s>LU STOUT: She is watching and waiting. And the world, we're anxiously awaiting how the judge is going to rule on Noura's fate. And as this is happening, what about sentiment inside Sudan? Are people inside Sudan standing with Noura? And against child marriage and gender-based violence?</s>ELBAGIR: What has been so extraordinary is that in spite of the Sudanese government's attempts to tamp down on any outpourings of support, in spite of their attempts to stop, our reporting was hampered extensively by state security agents, people were threatened for choosing to speak to us or even attempting to speak to us. But people still did. You saw the Sima Centre director there, willingly showing her face on camera. The only reason we know about Noura is because of brave men and women like Nahid Jabrallah. And they are continuing to stand by her. Actually, it was pretty extraordinary to see up close, Kristie.</s>LU STOUT: Yeah. May there be justice for Noura. May there be just the basic safety and security for girls and young women in Sudan. Nima, we thank you for your exclusive reporting. Thank you very much indeed and take care. You're watching "News Stream." We will be right back.