Vogue India's Campaign To End Abuse And Rape- Video

India has a major rape culture and domestic violence problem, and it's not just Muslims who are the perpetrators.  Vogue Empower is tackling the issue with the release of a short film titled "Boys Don't Cry."  Directed by Vinil Mathew of Bollywood fame, and produced by the Managing Director of Conde Nast India, Alex Kuruvilla, it focuses on how teaching young boys to not cry can eventually lead to violence as adults.

The hard-hitting film features an endless cycle of parents scolding their sons, from toddlers through adolescence, for crying. It then powerfully culminates in an image of a man holding back tears. The camera shot then pans out to unveil that he is converting his emotions into violence by physically abusing his already battered female partner.

At the end of the video, a woman says: “We have taught our boys not to cry. It’s time we teach them not to make girls cry,”

Kuruvilla was inspired to produce the film after a Susan Sarandon comment at the Goa Film Festival:

 “If you want to make a change, start with the boys.”

He said:

“The idea of the film is centered around the fundamental truth that women’s empowerment is not about women alone, which is why I pledged to create a short film that communicates clearly the need to change the mindset of boys before they become men."

[snip]

“When we teach young boys at an early age to not do something ‘like a girl’ – the distinction that what a girl does is insignificant is imprinted in the young boy’s mind. Growing up, when these boys don’t see eye to eye with their partners they feel the need to enforce their views through aggression.”

More on Vogue's attempt to empower women and educate the men.

Ex-Muslimah- Oppression Of Muslim Women Exists

"Marwa" is a "mostly-liberal" Arab, Middle-Eastern, ex-Muslimah, atheist blogger living in the U.S., and she's written an interesting response to an article she read on PolicyMic by Lauren Rankin. Rankin is a white, liberal feminist Western woman, who was being very critical of a series of tweets by Joyce Carol Oates equating the rape and sexual harassment of women in Egypt with religion.  Ms. Oates wrote:

Where 99.3% of women report having been sexually harassed & rape is epidemic--Egypt--natural to inquire: what's the predominant religion?
1:50 PM - 5 Jul 2013

Rankin launches into the typical accusations of Islamophobia, which she stupidly believes is a form of racism, claiming that it's patriarchy not religion that contributes to the oppression of Muslim women.  Marwa  begs to differ.

I love my feminist allies and friends, but sometimes white Western feminists get things all backwards when they try to speak about the experiences of foreign women of color. Especially if they’re talking about people they’ve never met, places they’ve never lived, religious and legal and patriarchal systems they are unacquainted with, and make broad, sweeping generalizations about those systems. This is such an example. I understand that it might be driven by a reflection of the voices of Muslim women who freely choose and cleave to their religion and rail out against accusations that they are being oppressed–what I do not understand is how the experiences and insights of free women with agency and self-determination can speak to the experiences of their sisters who do not have such freedom–the woman who is free to practice Islam or not, to wear hijab or not–this woman does not speak for me or my ex-Muslim and Muslim friends who suffer under Islamic systems any more than a Western woman does.

To be clear, I applaud the instinct to try to reduce anti-Muslim hate and bigotry. It is the approach here that I think is utterly misguided and frankly dangerous. Rankin is attempting to object to Islam being characterized in a monolithic manner…by characterizing it in a monolithic manner, as something that never contributes to or causes misogyny, rape, and oppression of women in Muslim-majority countries. And while I myself am a champion of trying to oppose anti-Muslim bigotry, I believe the strongest and most compassionate way of doing this is by resisting the characterization of Islam as a monolith. What has happened here is that Rankin has engaged in what I say is a dangerous refusal to examine the very real influences and intermingling of religion and patriarchy in violence and oppression against women and children in Muslim-majority countries.

The rest here on her blog Between a Veil and a Dark Place. It's an interesting read, not what some oppressed Muslim women and liberal idiots like Rankin would have you believe.

Marwa also wrote a great article about freedom and living in fear.

Indonesian Mullahs Demand Government Allow Female Genital Mutilation

Although an allegedly moderate Muslim nation, Indonesia has its share of Mullahs who are as backwards and misogynist as they get.

Most countries are trying to do away with female genital mutilation (FGM) which can cause young girls major physical problems when they grow up, and in some cases even death. The only reason to circumcise a young girl is for control and subjugation, so the practice continues. In fact, Indonesia legalized it in 2010, if performed by doctors or midwives. 

The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) has petitioned the government to make sure the practice  continues, claiming it's a constitutional right. Amirsyah Tambunan from the MUI said,

"Circumcision is a part of the Islamic teachings recommended for Muslims, both male and female. The MUI and Islamic organisation in the country firmly stand against efforts to ban female circumcision." 

There is a huge difference between male and female circumcision, which is why the UN is trying to get its member states to ban it. The only reason it's performed on females is to control a woman's sexuality and desire.

Not everyone agrees about it being a religious obligation.

... the executive director of the Wahid Institute, Ahmad Suaedy, disagreed, saying that the practice was based on fiqih (Islamic jurisprudence) that could be interpreted differently by different ulemas.

“Female circumcision is not in the sharia. Maybe, the MUI drew their conclusions from a fiqih that was applied in a particular context and region,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Malaysia Poised To Re-Classify Female Genital Mutilation As Medical Practice

There is debate about whether male circumcision is a necessary procedure, but most will agree that there are health benefits associated with removal of the foreskin.  On the other hand, female circumcision, or the far more appropriate term "female genital mutilation" (FGM), is nothing more than that- mutilation and torture, a surgery that can cause women terrible, lifelong physical problems. There is absolutely no medical necessity to remove the female genitalia, but the Malaysian health ministry is trying to re-classify what should be considered an abomination as a medical practice.

In 2009, the Fatwa Committee of Malaysia's National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs ruled that "female circumcision", as it has become known, was obligatory for Muslims but if harmful must be avoided.

Human rights activist Azrul Mohamad Khalib has written a scathing commentary calling for abolition of the practice.

He says it has no religious or medical benefits.

Problem is, it's a practice that already is firmly rooted in the society and culture in what is considered to be a moderate Muslim nation. According to a university survey, the bulk of Malay females who are Muslim have already been subjected to FGM.  In fact, 90% of the 1,000 or so women surveyed had been mutilated.

Khalib who is also involved with the International Planned Parenthood Federation found the results:

"both surprising and a little bit disappointing".

And his response to reclassifying FGM as a medical practice, which up until now has mostly been performed by private practitioners:

"One of the things I find quite alarming with regards to this development is that the Ministry of Health is actually depending on a fatwa, a religious opinion that was actually issued by the national fatwa council, in which they made it obligatory, or 'wajib', for all Muslim women to be circumcised.

"It seems that the Ministry of Health is now (instituting) that fatwa.

"So, in contrary to quite a number of best practices as well as a WHO (World Health Organisation) advisory, the Ministry of Health is taking steps now to sort of make it standardised, or medicalised, in such a way that it might be applied to all public health-care facilities."

"One of the things that those working on gender issues in Malaysia have come to realise is that a barrier when we deal with these sort of issues is the lack of awareness - the 'why' of such practices and how harmful it can be.

"Certainly when it comes to female circumcision, the position that has been taken is that if it does do no harm why not do it? Well . . . if there are no benefits to doing it, why do it?

"One of the first steps that we are trying to push out forward is that we are very much trying to spread awareness that such practices are unnecessary.

"They're not required by religion, they're not having any medical benefits whatsoever and certainly when we look at it it's strictly cultural in its entirety.

"But as you mentioned, it is going to be extremely hard if more than 90 per cent of the Malay Muslim population already practising it."

Rather than re-classifying the procedure they should do some heavy duty re-education, but that will never happen because FGM is just another means of controlling women.

To Beat and Kill Women Is Part Of Palestinian Identity - Says Israeli/Arab Lecturer

Israeli/Arab lecturer Yusuf Jabareen admits in a discussion on PA (Fatah) TV what most of us Westerners already know: Arab Muslim men have major anger management issues.

Palestinian Authority TV interview with Yusuf Jabareen, Israeli Arab lecturer at the Technion:Jabareen: "Part of our identity is to kill women, for example, to kill women, to beat women..."Host: "You generalize."Jabareen: "No. I don't generalize."Host: "Not everyone is the same."Jabareen: "Part of our identity is to attack women - we must acknowledge it. Every society has its defects and its charms. Palestinian identity has its charms, but there are things we have adopted from Arab culture for centuries that harm the individual and the woman. For example, in recent months, look how many women were killed in Lod, in Ramle, and in Acre, and so on. That's part of our identity."

He's absolutely right. The fact is, violence against women is a huge problem in Palestine. At least he has the guts to admit it, though the other man's denial is typical.

Pakistan Girls' School Blown Up By Al-Qaeda Linked Militants

Women haters in Pakistan blew up a girls' school in Khyber agency (a tribal region bordering Afghanistan) because  they obviously think the woman's role is in the home making their men samosas and popping out future suicide bombers. Thankfully there were no girls at school at the time, and no-one was injured. But I'm sure if they continue to try to educate themselves, the next thing will be acid.

JAMRUD: Militants planted explosives in the boundary wall of a government girls’ middle school, destroying the building in the Ghundai area of Jamrud, Khyber Agency on Saturday.

“The explosive material was planted in the boundary wall of the school, which destroyed the building,” said officials of sub-district Jamrud.

The owner of the school, Malik Haji Zewar Khan, told The Express Tribune that he heard a sound but took it as thunder due to heavy rain the previous night. But after few minutes, his son Khalid, who was a watchman of the school, informed him of what had happened.

Soon after the explosion, locals started rescue work by gathering the debris of the damaged building.

Assistant Political Agent (APA) Jamrud, Mohammad Jamil, employed sniffer dogs and successfully arrested a suspect, Sher Haider, who lived near the school, and arrested three other armed suspects.

APA Jamrud also issued orders for the arrest of the school watchmen.
While talking to media from an undisclosed location, Abdullah Azzam Brigade spokesperson Abu Zarar claimed responsibility for the attack.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, Khyber Agency is considered to be the most literate of all 8 tribal regions of Pakistan.

Men Forcing Wives To Undergo Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most horrifying rituals still practiced today. And it's not just Muslims chopping off the genitals of young girls, Christians in Africa are just as guilty, in spite of widespread efforts to ban the practice.  In fact, according to one report out of Kenya,  people are going out of their way to ensure that the tradition lives on by changing the season in which it's performed- from December to August,

...to avoid media spotlight and scrutiny from Government agencies.

FGM is performed on girls as young as a few days old and usually through puberty, but now per that same report, married women who were mercifully spared the knife as young girls are being forced to have the procedure done.

"Those who evaded the cut are now being forced to undergo the cultural practice or their husbands be denied land inheritance," said Women Rights Institute for Peace (Wrip) Executive Director Mariam Suleiman while releasing the report.

This was after Wrip undertook project activities geared towards preventing attempts to subject girls to the cut in November and December in Baringo County.

Suleiman said husbands force their wives to undergo the cut to avoid missing out on family inheritance.

Some chiefs and their assistants from the areas were accused of shielding FGM perpetrators from prosecution.

Circumcision period

"In East Pokot District the community in collusion with the Provincial Administration has changed the circumcision period from December to August to avoid the public, Government and media focus that comes at the end of the year," Wrip Executive Director stated.

She added that those who escaped the practice midyear are forced by their relatives to undergo the cut in December.

The report showed that only 99 girls underwent the cut in the months of November and December while 125 escaped and sought refuge in churches and at homes of relatives who are against the vice.

Suleiman further stated that lack of awareness of constitutional rights has made some girls not to seek legal action against perpetrators of the vice for fear of reprisals from their parents.

"There is need to educate them on laws, the court processes and the outcome especially on the fact that moving to court will not have their parents arrested," she said.

The Wrip boss urged anti-FGM stakeholders to let the campaigns be a continuous process to end the vice.

It's all about control. Shameful.

Afghan Woman Strangled For Giving Birth To Third Daughter

I just wrote a post about female gendercide, and how prevalent it is in China and India, Taiwan, Pakistan and South Korea. But it's not just in those countries that females are so devalued they wind up dead, pre or post-birth. And it's not just baby girls that are targeted for death- a mother that gives birth to too many girls can wind up losing her life, as well.

That's what allegedly happened to a woman in Afghanistan, but as with most stories out of those regions the details can differ quite substantially.  What we do know is that a woman was strangled by her husband, with the help of her mother-in-law, because she failed to give birth to a boy. However, this is where the stories vary: they have her age ranging from 22 to 30 with most claiming she was killed after bearing a third daughter, although several  mention it was a second baby girl.  Storay or Storai had given birth to a daughter two or three months ago, which so infuriated Sher Mohammad (her husband) that she was apparently tortured and then strangled with a rope. Wali Hazrata, mother-in-law from hell, tried to make it look like a suicide, but the police claim her body had been brutalized, so suicide was ruled out. Hazrata was subsequently arrested as an accomplice. Of course, the cowardly husband, a suspected militia man, has disappeared.

Hazrata denies killing her daughter-in-law, and police are searching for Mohammad.  He is believed to be in hiding with local militia which means he probably will never be found, and therefore not prosecuted.

Tragically, she had told her family that she might be killed if she had another daughter. Perhaps they didn't take those threats to heart because men simply take on new wives if one of them is unable to bear sons.

Thankfully, the baby girl was not killed.

Ironically, it's the man that determines the gender of a child. He should have strangled himself.

Sources: UK DailyMail, NY Daily News, NY Times, Al Arabiya

Muslims and Others Balk At Proposed Dutch Burqa Ban

As expected, the response to the planned Dutch burqa ban  has not been positive.  But it's not just the Muslim community that has balked at the prospect of freeing women from the shackles of oppression, the usual liberal, PC suspects, have also chimed in.  You know, the ones who claim that banning the face veil is infringing upon a woman's religious freedom, whereas the opposite is true.  Most women are forced to wear the burqa or niqab by their controlling husbands, furthermore, it's a cultural not a religious prescript. Nowhere in the Quran is it mentioned that a woman must wear a burqa. So much for the 'freedom of religion' argument.

According to Aydin Akkaya, chairman for some Dutch Turkish organization (IOT), the ban would seriously affect the quality of life for burqa-wearing women.

“Women who currently only venture outside, or are allowed to go outside, wearing a burqa, will from now on stay home,”

"Allowed" is the operative word here. It's hard to believe that in the Netherlands, in the 21st century, there are women who are forced to go outside in full burqa regalia, and who will be forced to remain at home if the ban goes into effect.

Then you have the lefties perspective:

Green Left Party MP Tofik Dibi says he doesn’t understand why the government attaches such importance to the ban in the midst of an economic crisis: “Why track and fine a handful of people with a burqa, when people are deeply worried about their future and that of their children?”

I'm still trying to figure out what a burqa ban has to do with an economic crisis, but it seems to be a common concern with other political parties, like the social conservative, but centre-left Christian Union party that also criticized the ban.

Arie Slob, the parliamentary leader of the small Christian Union party, also questioned the ban’s wisdom at a time of deep budget cuts: “The way the government of Mark Rutte tackles the crisis: by banning burqas. That’s not going to do the job.”

You'd think women, of all people, would applaud the ban, but not so.  Leyla Çakir of Al Nisa (a Muslim women's group) is dead set against it.

“Self-determination is our top priority. Some women may now well decide to wear a burqa in defiance of the ban, but a number of women are now likely not to leave their home any longer.”

Okay, then those defying the ban will be fined and some will stay at home.  Those are choices too. It's not as if the Dutch are banning the hijab (head scarf), which is mentioned in the Quran, and would be a religious freedom issue. They're banning a non-prescribed symbol of oppression, but most importantly something that could pose a criminal threat or hazard to others. And since the burqa isn't the only face covering that is being banned, they shouldn't take offense. But, as always they do.

Source: Radio Netherlands

Female Saudi Doctor Sues Virtue Police For Harrassment

I can't even imagine what it must be like to live in a country that doesn't allow women to drive, and forces them to remain cloaked in swathes of black cloth. Then there are the vice police to deal with.  Those enforcers of  virtue who roam the streets of the kingdom ready to pounce on anyone who might be doing something naughty like driving, or talking to someone of [gasp] the opposite sex. Members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) feel it gives them license to harass others for no legit reason. 

But, Saudi women are getting more ballsy it seems.  One woman is actually suing the Haia for harassment and humiliation. Noura Al-Musallam, a female doctor at the King Fahd University Hospital in Alkhobar, claims that she was humiliated and harassed by someone from the Haia and decided to file a petition with the local Governor Prince Muhammad.  The issue is being investigated  by a committee at the Haia.

Noura's story goes like this: since women are not allowed to drive, she was waiting outside one of the clinics for her ride home when a car approached her for directions. The man needed to find one of the clinics where "..his sick mother was waiting for him...”  Suddenly, a member of the Haia appeared demanded her cellphone and ID, and never bothered to identify who he was. Since she was talking to a man he automatically assumed there was something illicit going on after she asked for her cell phone back, and even though Noura tried to explain what was going on, he told her to shut up.

Of the situation Noura said,

“I have been practicing as a specialist doctor for some time and was honored by the university. I cannot bear such inhumane behavior from a member of the Haia, whose officials are supposed to behave in a decent and civilized manner and should at least try to understand the situation before hurting people.”

According to one source,

“The university had lodged a petition with the governorate and it is not our business to take up the matter with the Haia. The doctor was so far not summoned for a hearing on the matter. She will formally file a complaint against the Haia member as she has the right to do so,” once source said, adding that she is working for the hospital, which comes under the jurisdiction of the university.

Since she's a woman, more than likely nothing will come of it, but at least she had the guts to stand up for herself.

Raped Afghan Woman Gets Choice of 12 Years In Jail or Marry Her Rapist

Imagine getting raped and then being forced to make a decision between two equally horrendous choices:

A. marry your rapist or
B. 12 years in jail.

This is what a young Afghan woman, Gulnaz, faces after her cousin's husband allegedly violated her 2 years ago at the age of 19. Convicted of adultery, courtesy of Islamic Afghan law, she still could face being killed by family members who feel they have been dishonored.  The rapist, who denies he raped her, is also in jail, admits as much. But according to him, it won't be his family who will kill her, it will be her family.  

Gulnaz says of the rape,

He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work,’ she told CNN in an exclusive interview.

‘He closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth,’ she said.

Faced with having to spend 12 years in jail, along with the child she gave birth to as a result of the rape, she has said she is willing to marry her rapist.

I was asked if I wanted to start a new life by getting released, by marrying this man’.

She added: ‘My daughter is a little innocent child. Who knew I would have a child in this way. A lot of people told me that after your daughter's born give it to someone else, but my aunt told me to keep her as proof of my innocence.

I'm sure there are those who might be skeptical about the rape allegations, but even if it was consensual (which I doubt) 12 years for adultery?

Only in Islam is the female victim re-victimized.



Source: Dailymail

Divorce Islamic Style: Egyptian Divorce Rates Spike With Women's Divorce Law (khula)

There are state laws governing divorce in this country and it can be very complicated, especially with children involved. This is a good thing considering the divorce rates have increased substantially over the past 50 plus years.  And depending on the reasons for the dissolution of a marriage, and the competence of the  lawyers involved, men and women  are treated fairly equally.  Not so for Muslims.  As with most things in Islam, the woman does not fare as well as the man.  If  a Muslim man wants to divorce his wife, he simply has to give talaq and tell her "I divorce you", as long as she's not unclean (i.e. menstruating). There is a three stage process they are supposed  to go through, with a short waiting period in between, but many men out of anger will perform triple talaq without bothering to wait, and the woman is out on the streets. Text-messaging and emailing triple talaq has become so commonplace, some countries like Tajikistan have actually banned it.

Although women are supposed to be allowed to ask for a divorce (khula), it's not quite the same thing.  Unlike men who have very little obligations when they divorce, women are forced to give back everything.  And in countries like Egypt, wives were banned from seeking a divorce until 2000.  Now that it is so easy for both parties to part ways, Egypt's divorce rates have skyrocketed. And the ones suffering the most are the children.


If it's true that divorce cases have increased with the "khula" law, that's a pretty damning indictment against the Egyptian male if so many women are willing to leave their husbands with virtually nothing.
Of course, not only are the women being blamed (as they usually are), fingers are being pointed at the evil West:

According to the statistics presented in the conference, the unconditional divorce law, which allows the woman to end the marriage provided that she waives her financial rights, has contributed to a remarkable hike in divorce rates in Egypt.



With the “khula” law, divorce cases have amounted to 5.4 million and around seven million children ended up in orphanages or in the streets especially after one of the parents or both remarry, said Sameh Mekhlef, head of the Association for the Rescue of the Egyptian family and member of the Egyptian Family coalition.

“We should also steer away from Western values that have a negative effect on the unity of the family and that promote ideas which are strange to our society."

Right.  Islamic values are so much more egalitarian and family friendly.  I think Mekhlef should take a deep, hard look at why women are so willing to leave their husbands if the Muslim life is so perfect.  It has far more to do with the oppression and abuse of women under Islam, than Western values.