7-12-2009 Afghanistan:
This week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed legislation which among other things, allows Afghan men to starve their wives if they refuse to have sex with them. The measure was an amendment to a law which have husbands the right to force themselves on their wives, if they did not consent.
Some NATO countries have threatened to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan as a result of the measure.
Speaking to British newspaper The Independent, women's rights activist Wazhma Frough said that hard line clerics pressured the Justice Ministry to retain the most outrageous parts of the original legislation. She said: "There have been a few little changes, but they are not enough. For example, if the wife doesn't accept her husband's sexual requirements then he can deny her food."
Afghanistan's Muslim law now allows rapists to go free if they offer to marry their victims. The same practice actually exists in Mexico and is known as ‘Rapto.’
The new law has touched-off riots in the streets of Kabul, as hundreds of women protested the law which would be unthinkable in a civilized society. However, groups of men from Kabul’s largest Shia madrassa also took to the streets and attacked the women. The event has been completely ignored by the American press.
Activist Razia Jan, who is currently building a women's center in Bamiyan said: "Violence against women is already endemic. Men pay thousands of dollars for young girls and they are treated like slaves. Women here are already so vulnerable."
Of course, government sanctioned violence against women is nothing new throughout the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia recently revised their rape laws (of sorts). Now, in order for a woman to prove that she was raped, she must have three men testify as witnesses to the crime. Until recently, a female rape victim was required to bring four male witnesses to court.
Of course, under such conditions, the crime of rape is almost never prosecuted in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it is often the woman who ends up in jail and charged with adultery or indecency charges.
In 2007 the victim of a brutal gang rape was given a sentence of 200 lashes and six years in prison for having been in an unrelated man’s car at the time of the attack. After the case garnered major world media attention she was pardoned by King Abdullah, though he claimed the sentence to be fair.
A few years ago, a book entitled "The Islamic Woman" was published which detailed beating techniques to be imposed on Muslim women--at the hands of their controlling husbands. The book's author is a Muslim Imam named Mohamed Kamal Mostafa, currently living in Spain.
"The Islamic Woman" instructs men to hit women "on their hands and feet, making sure to use a cudgel that is not too thick so as not to leave permanent scar tissue." Mostafa also warns his fellow Muslims to "inflict blows that are not too strong nor too hard, because the aim is to make them suffer psychologically."
Murder is also inflicted upon Muslim women by their husbands, fathers, and brothers. The practice is called "honor killings." A Muslim woman or young girl will often be killed by a male family member, after she is believed to have committed an act which defies Islam.
In 2003, a Jordanian man was sentenced to one year in prison, for the murder of his own sister. The young woman became pregnant as a result of being raped by a neighbor. Her family then decided that she must marry the rapist. Before the forced marriage could take place, word of the pregnancy spread throughout the community. The woman's brother returned from a trip to slurs and jeers, calling him the "brother of a slut."
According to the Jordan Times, the man was so angry with his sister over the fact that she had been raped and impregnated--he slipped into her room at night and strangled her with a telephone cord.
The Jordanian paper published excerpts of the court's rulings. They are as follows: "The victim's actions were an unlawful and dangerous act that brought disgrace and shame to her family. He (the brother) could no longer control himself and became very angry. It does not matter that the defendant killed his sister hours after returning from Aqaba. He was still under the influence of extreme anger, which caused him to lose his ability because of the unlawful act committed by his sister."
*Reporter’s note: It is a travesty beyond imagination that we have sent our young men to fight and die in a country which has established a government that condones rape and a medieval type of oppression against their women. It is also a travesty that American women’s rights groups such as NOW (National Organization for Women) spend their resources lobbying for the continuation of late-term abortions, rather than bringing attention to the plight of their counterparts throughout the Muslim world.
In my opinion, we should pull-out our troops and all forms of support to Muslim countries which condone such brutality upon women. The entire Western world lined-up against the government of South Africa and imposed harsh economic sanctions against that nation, until they ended the practice of Apartheid.
Are not the lives of mothers and daughters at least as important? ..Source.. by Dave Gibson
July 12, 2009
Afghanistan legalizes rape, starvation of women
November 13, 2008
MI- Ex-inmates awarded $8.45 million in rape, sexual harassment cases
Assuming they have identified the perpetrators I would hope they are being prosecuted and will appear on the sex offender's registry!
11-13-2008 Michigan:
A Washtenaw County jury awarded eight former female prisoners $8.45 million in damages for rapes and sexual harassment in the 1990s by guards at Crane Correctional Facility in Coldwater.
It was the second multimillion-dollar verdict against the Michigan Department of Corrections, involving a massive civil case alleging widespread abuse in Michigan prisons.
More than 500 female prisoners claim they were sexually abused by prison guards at Michigan prisons in the 1990s. The cases are being heard in small batches in front of Washtenaw Circuit Judge Timothy Connors.
In February, a jury awarded 10 current and former prisoners $15.4 million in damages for sexual abuse by corrections officers at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth.
"I wish the state would listen to its citizens," said Deborah LaBelle, the lead attorney for the case. "What they have said, loudly and clearly, is these women have been deeply damaged by the hands of the state."
A third trial is expected to be held in 2009. It is expected to include 10 female prisoners who claim they were abused at Western Wayne Correctional Facility, which closed in 2004.
The verdict from the first trial is being appealed.
"We are confident that will be reversed," said Russ Marlan, a corrections spokesman.
Marlan said he wanted to reserve comment on the second verdict until he had a chance to speak to the Office of the Attorney General. ..News Source.. by FREE PRESS STAFF
November 6, 2007
Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assaults in Anchorage, Alaska
January 2000
Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assaults in Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska generally and Anchorage specifically have been plagued by the incidence of sexual assaults. As the data below demonstrate, Anchorage routinely ranks among cities with the highest incidence of forcible rape and sexual assault. This study is an initial effort to begin the process of understanding sexual assault in Anchorage so that criminal justice practitioners, service providers, and policy makers might have a more complete understanding of this scourge. We trust that improved understanding will provide a foundation that leads to more effective crime prevention and service delivery.
This report describes the findings of a review of sexual assault incidents (N=541) that were reported to the Anchorage Police Department during the period between January 2000 and December 2001. The report is descriptive in that it describes the gravity of the problem by comparison to other jurisdictions, the characteristics of victims and suspects, the nature of the relationship between victim and suspects, and characteristics of the assault. The aim for the report is to provide an initial description of the problem as a guide for future inquiry.
Gravity of the Problem: How Does Anchorage Compare?
As defined in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, forcible rape is “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will” (Crime in the United States, 2001). Attempted forcible rapes are also included in the UCR’s measure. Figure 1 displays the rates of forcible rape from 1982 to 2001 for the United States, Alaska, and Anchorage.
In 2001, the state of Alaska had the highest rate of forcible rape among the 50 states (78.9 per 100,000) and Anchorage had the fifth highest rate of forcible rape among metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. (79.7 per 100,000; Crime in the United States, 2001). From 1982 to 2001, the average rate of forcible rape per 100,000 in Anchorage was 82.01 (s = 14.49) while the average rate in the United States was 39.95 (s = 3.27). Stated differently, the rate of forcible rape per 100,000 in Anchorage was, on average, 122.39 percent higher than the U.S. rate (s = 0.37). ..more.. by André Rosay -and- Robert H. Langworthy
