Courage and Cowardice

In Afghanistan:

Five Afghan schoolgirls have been attacked with battery acid by suspected Taliban fighters in the southern city of Kandahar....

"We were on the way to school when two men on motorbikes stopped next to us. One of them threw acid on my sister's face. I tried to help her and then they threw acid on me too," said Latefa, a 16-year-old student....

"But Latefa ... said that she is determined to continue her education, and she will not let this attack stop her from learning."

And in Yemen:

A ten-year-old child bride from Yemen has been honored as one of "Glamour" magazine's women of the year Monday night.

The "New York Daily News" is reporting that pint-sized Nujood Ali broke with tradition by demanding a divorce.

The girl was given up for marriage by her impoverished parents.

Although her 30-year-old groom had promised to wait until Ali was older before becoming intimate, he reportedly raped and beat her on their wedding night. When no one would take Ali to the courthouse to seek a divorce, she went on her own and sat there until a judge took notice.

Via the Jawa Report (here and here).