An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Haven’t Our Heroes Died To FREE Them?
Jamila was married off when she was seven years old. Subjected to brutal beatings for nine years by her husband, she approached her father-in-law for help. For this “shame,” a family member shot her in the leg.
During a rare visit to her parental home, she sought a divorce. A jirga, or assembly of local elders who act as informal dispute-resolution mechanisms in the absence of a formal justice system in many parts of Afghanistan, rejected her plea and sent her back to her marital home.
Jamila, whose real name and location cannot be revealed for her own safety, was punished once again, this time by her father-in-law, who beat her, cut off one nostril, shaved her head and tied her with a rope before throwing her outside the house.
This type of stuff has been going on for years in Muslims dominated countries, and the Useless Numnuts just now are noticing?
“Violence against women exists in every continent, every country and every culture, and Afghanistan makes no exception, but the problem here in Afghanistan is that most of the cases remain unreported due to the severe restrictions women face in seeking justice,” he told Al Jazeera.
True, violence against women does exist in every country and culture, however most CIVILIZED countries will at least make the effort to bring justice to the perpetrator, not the victim.
“When the women or girls seek recourse from the government, they are further molested by the government representatives” and “most of the time women who report incidents of violence to the police end up in prison themselves”.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Punish the one who has been violated, abuse, maimed, etc. Uh huh.
The lack of representation of women in decision-making positions (only one cabinet minister is a woman and there are no vocal women in leadership positions), reinforces stereotypes that limit a woman’s role to the household.
Women’s rights advocates say this also engenders hostility to women who participate in civil society and public life.
Wasn’t the intend of our bombing the crap out of Afghanistan, other than attempting to get bin Pigladen, to free them from the oppression of the Taliban types? Seems to me, they haven’t made a whole lot of progress. I realize it’s “culture” thing, but seriously, what CIVILIZED culture condones such treatment of women, or anyone for that matter.
The strong shame associated with a woman leaving her home, even if as a victim of abuse, makes reintegrating into society and family nearly impossible.
If she returns home, the victim may be killed. If she does not return home, it is likely she will face more violence as a result of being an ‘unattached woman’.
Currently, Afghanistan has only short-stay provisions for emergency cases, most of which do not allow women to keep their children.
And where do the children go? Do they stay with the violent spouse? Not real smart, if you ask me. I wonder how many children have been killed as retribution. Is there a study on that?
A recent editorial in the government-owned Kabul Times offered a stark reminder of the widespread acceptance of violence against women in Afghanistan. The editorial, which ran four days after International Women’s Day on March 8, was titled “A few reasons for violence against women.”
“We always condemn men who beat their wives or sisters … but overlook what some women do to invoke men’s ire. To begin with, there are numerous obstinate, groggy, nagging, quarrelsome, stingy and arguing women in this country who disturb the peace in their families. When they get charged they go on and on till they provoke their husbands to beat them black and blue.”
The apparent justification of violence against women was written by Abdul Haq, the English-language newspaper’s editor-in-chief. The acting editor, S. Ghiassi, told Al Jazeera that Haq could not comment on the issue because he was ill and hospitalised.
Ill? Wasn’t he unconscious and unable to speak? I’d have to say he, and the piece of trash who wrote the opinion, are flat out sick SOBs.
A Unifem study, based on a primary database of violence covering 21 districts over a year-and-a-half during which 1,011 cases were registered, found that most of the cases of violence were a result of forced marriages.
The report also stated that the incidence of forced marriages is as high as 70 to 80 per cent, while 57 per cent of marriages are estimated to be before the legal age of 16.
The widespread prevalence of child marriage compelled Hamid Karzai, the nation’s president, to publicly address this issue on International Women’s Day, calling on religious elders to end this practice and the social custom of giving away girls as a means of settling disputes and debts.
Until this “culture” figures out that women are people, not commodities, nothing is going to change. Little girls will be abused, and murdered, women will die in childbirth, and no woman in Afghanistan will ever be able to be free.
If the Useless Numnuts really want to DO something, perhaps they should make an effort to “re-educate” the male dominated countries.
Cross posted at Reject the UN
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