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"This is what the LORD says: "A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah––mourning and weeping unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted––for her children are dead." --Jeremiah 31:15
How else to put into words something like this? If you don't want to click the link, this AP article reports on a seven-year-old Afghan girl who was raped by a pair of young men. Although the crime happened two months ago and everyone knows who the men are, they have not been brought to justice, due to contacts in the judicial department who got them out of jail, and the traditional Arabic honor / shame system that considers a woman who loses her virginity outside marriage to have ruined her whole family's honor.
According to their culture, this girl is now technically considered a woman, and an unmarriageable one, at that. The fact that her family is even trying to get her justice is rare, as rape--which is rather common in the region, according to the article--is typically hushed up for the sake of the family's honor. An official even warned the girl's uncle that if he tried to get justice for the girl, that he would personally come and kill him. Kill him. For trying to get help for a physically and emotionally traumatized seven year old girl. This child is truly lucky to have such a brave, concerned family. Often, these stories end with a male member of the girl's family killing her to restore the family honor. (The whole practice of honor killings deserves its own rant. I'll just provide a link to this site, which is devoted to ending this awful practice.)
As an anthropology student, I've taken entire courses devoted to exploring traditional Arab cultures, and one thing I've never been able to drop my egocentrism about is this honor / shame system when it comes to women. Undoubtedly, this bias most likely comes from the fact that I am a woman, and reeeeeally tired of my gender being the victim of violent and sexual crimes. There's no culture out there that will condone this kind of child abuse (as far as I know). But to blame a seven-year-old girl for the heinous violation subjected on her by a pair of depraved adult men is almost as equally cruel as the crime itself.
Pray for this girl, and pray for change.
This link will take you to a really excellent article about honor killings in Palestinian culture.
This one to Gendercide Watch, which discusses it in context of several Arab cultures.
And finally, this article discusses shame, women and honor killings, which at least has the grace to point out that Islam is actually far more kind and liberating to Arab women than many of these older Arab traditions.
How else to put into words something like this? If you don't want to click the link, this AP article reports on a seven-year-old Afghan girl who was raped by a pair of young men. Although the crime happened two months ago and everyone knows who the men are, they have not been brought to justice, due to contacts in the judicial department who got them out of jail, and the traditional Arabic honor / shame system that considers a woman who loses her virginity outside marriage to have ruined her whole family's honor.
According to their culture, this girl is now technically considered a woman, and an unmarriageable one, at that. The fact that her family is even trying to get her justice is rare, as rape--which is rather common in the region, according to the article--is typically hushed up for the sake of the family's honor. An official even warned the girl's uncle that if he tried to get justice for the girl, that he would personally come and kill him. Kill him. For trying to get help for a physically and emotionally traumatized seven year old girl. This child is truly lucky to have such a brave, concerned family. Often, these stories end with a male member of the girl's family killing her to restore the family honor. (The whole practice of honor killings deserves its own rant. I'll just provide a link to this site, which is devoted to ending this awful practice.)
As an anthropology student, I've taken entire courses devoted to exploring traditional Arab cultures, and one thing I've never been able to drop my egocentrism about is this honor / shame system when it comes to women. Undoubtedly, this bias most likely comes from the fact that I am a woman, and reeeeeally tired of my gender being the victim of violent and sexual crimes. There's no culture out there that will condone this kind of child abuse (as far as I know). But to blame a seven-year-old girl for the heinous violation subjected on her by a pair of depraved adult men is almost as equally cruel as the crime itself.
Pray for this girl, and pray for change.
This link will take you to a really excellent article about honor killings in Palestinian culture.
This one to Gendercide Watch, which discusses it in context of several Arab cultures.
And finally, this article discusses shame, women and honor killings, which at least has the grace to point out that Islam is actually far more kind and liberating to Arab women than many of these older Arab traditions.
