IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Shaimaa Saadoun is haunted by her memory of being forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man just after she turned 13.
Her impoverished family near the southern Iraqi city of Basra hoped that the dowry of gold and money would help improve their circumstances. Her husband presented a bloodstained piece of linen to prove her virginity after their wedding night.
“I was expected to be a wife and mother while I was still a child myself. No child or teenager should be forced to live what I have lived and experienced,” said Saadoun, who divorced her husband when she was 30 and is now 44.
Saadoun’s
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