Stand Up, Speak Up
While at work today, i came across yet another sad story that defy's women's rights. What didn't surprise me was that the story came from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi lady who was gang raped last year (14 times by a group of 7 men) would have gone through nightmares and psychological trauma caused by the gang rape itself and now the country's law is giving her an unfair, bias judgement towards the woman's cry for help in public. According to Al-jazeera news today the arabian lady was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and additional 200 lashes because of the lady's "attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media". in 2006 she was sentenced to 90 lashes due to "illegal mingling" which had led to her being raped. Have the men in Saudi Arabia lost their sense of sympathy?
In an Islamic point of view, an unmarried woman involved in sexual behavior voluntarily would have been severely punished based on Islamic Religious Law (Syaria Law).
Involuntary sexual acts done by married women and in this case a "rape", the Islamic Law does not rule out that a victim should be punished too. Meeting a man in the car is not associated with sexual behavior from any point of view. I'm so curious, i wonder were there any eye-witness who saw the victim and the man that she had a "rendezvous" with in the car doing some lewd acts? It wasn't mentioned it the news.... how could just meeting a man be so "illegal" or a "crime"? I'm baffled ...would any sane arabian lady throw herself to a group of "hungry" men just so that they get satisfaction and she gets nothing at all?
Islamic rules & regulations has always been very protective of women in Islam. There are tremendous amount of rules and specifications on how an Islamic woman should appear and each of them are actually good if it is given deep thoughts to it. But when rules tends to be overprotective, Islamic women especially in middle east countries face horrible suppression by the law and this brings more harm than good. The truth is, in Saudi Arabia it's really not the Islamic rules that they follow, it's actually their tradition itself which is far too backwards from modern day civilization. I'm talking about giving the arabian ladies liberty to express themselves with acceptable restrictions.
Now just imagine what happens to the rape victim after this...
First of all, psychological pain and lost of privacy caused by the global mass media. (she has already attempted suicide)
Secondly, her family would either support her and condone her or maybe they would actually detest her for bringing shame.
Next, the big question of her virginity would prevail since it's a middle east country, what are the chances of her getting a decent proposal from an arabian man to get married? (in Saudi Arabia, men need their wifes chastity to remain intact before marriage)
Then she has to go through several medical examinations just to make sure she's not pregnant or having any sexually transmitted disease.
and last but not least, 6 months jail term and 200 lashes.
How much more could a rape victim handle??
Today, women in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the middle eastern region should really take note of this matter and start learning how to stand up and speak up of their rights. Isn't it such a shame to see foreign interruption appearing to defend the rights of women in the middle east but none from middle eastern countries itself. This kind of situation has actually allowed Women’s rights as a western foreign policy objective in the Middle East. I wonder will there ever be a revolutionary change for a better life for these arabic women or when will their plight be ever heard? Would a lady with authority give this kind of verdict to a rape victim? Take note, Saudi women are not allowed to be legislators too. I feel pity to these arabian women, day by day they are trapped by life's disappointing realities. Arabian women needs to find a solution on defending themselves, change the tradition and stop running away or ignoring what's happening to them.While i've heard many positive news such as the first Saudi woman who became a pilot or 60% of successful Saudi University graduates are women, lots of things Saudi women need to catch up. The most important thing is they need to be heard and treated equally with men. They need to unite to overcome the tight rules made by male chauvinists and sexist in their country.
It's time to wake up ladies, and show them that you are bravehearts and make history.
A Saudi lady who was gang raped last year (14 times by a group of 7 men) would have gone through nightmares and psychological trauma caused by the gang rape itself and now the country's law is giving her an unfair, bias judgement towards the woman's cry for help in public. According to Al-jazeera news today the arabian lady was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and additional 200 lashes because of the lady's "attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media". in 2006 she was sentenced to 90 lashes due to "illegal mingling" which had led to her being raped. Have the men in Saudi Arabia lost their sense of sympathy?
In an Islamic point of view, an unmarried woman involved in sexual behavior voluntarily would have been severely punished based on Islamic Religious Law (Syaria Law).
Involuntary sexual acts done by married women and in this case a "rape", the Islamic Law does not rule out that a victim should be punished too. Meeting a man in the car is not associated with sexual behavior from any point of view. I'm so curious, i wonder were there any eye-witness who saw the victim and the man that she had a "rendezvous" with in the car doing some lewd acts? It wasn't mentioned it the news.... how could just meeting a man be so "illegal" or a "crime"? I'm baffled ...would any sane arabian lady throw herself to a group of "hungry" men just so that they get satisfaction and she gets nothing at all?
Islamic rules & regulations has always been very protective of women in Islam. There are tremendous amount of rules and specifications on how an Islamic woman should appear and each of them are actually good if it is given deep thoughts to it. But when rules tends to be overprotective, Islamic women especially in middle east countries face horrible suppression by the law and this brings more harm than good. The truth is, in Saudi Arabia it's really not the Islamic rules that they follow, it's actually their tradition itself which is far too backwards from modern day civilization. I'm talking about giving the arabian ladies liberty to express themselves with acceptable restrictions.
Now just imagine what happens to the rape victim after this...
First of all, psychological pain and lost of privacy caused by the global mass media. (she has already attempted suicide)
Secondly, her family would either support her and condone her or maybe they would actually detest her for bringing shame.
Next, the big question of her virginity would prevail since it's a middle east country, what are the chances of her getting a decent proposal from an arabian man to get married? (in Saudi Arabia, men need their wifes chastity to remain intact before marriage)
Then she has to go through several medical examinations just to make sure she's not pregnant or having any sexually transmitted disease.
and last but not least, 6 months jail term and 200 lashes.
How much more could a rape victim handle??
Today, women in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the middle eastern region should really take note of this matter and start learning how to stand up and speak up of their rights. Isn't it such a shame to see foreign interruption appearing to defend the rights of women in the middle east but none from middle eastern countries itself. This kind of situation has actually allowed Women’s rights as a western foreign policy objective in the Middle East. I wonder will there ever be a revolutionary change for a better life for these arabic women or when will their plight be ever heard? Would a lady with authority give this kind of verdict to a rape victim? Take note, Saudi women are not allowed to be legislators too. I feel pity to these arabian women, day by day they are trapped by life's disappointing realities. Arabian women needs to find a solution on defending themselves, change the tradition and stop running away or ignoring what's happening to them.While i've heard many positive news such as the first Saudi woman who became a pilot or 60% of successful Saudi University graduates are women, lots of things Saudi women need to catch up. The most important thing is they need to be heard and treated equally with men. They need to unite to overcome the tight rules made by male chauvinists and sexist in their country.
It's time to wake up ladies, and show them that you are bravehearts and make history.
posted by eye-catcher @ 6:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home