So I am a person that reads the news and current events and there is so much going on around the world that strikes me and I always have that need to comment on issues that disturb the hell outta me. Yesterday I saw an article about a woman named Shahnaz Bibi who was shamed publicly by being stripped naked by several men and paraded in a village in Pakistan after these same men allege that her son was guilty of having an “affair”. She pleaded with the men to stop beating her but it was to no avail.I’ll post the video provided by BBC here:
Shahnaz Bibi says the trauma of her ordeal has meant that her life is finished - BBC
The end result is that some of the perpertrators were caught and others fled for their lives since their actions were in fact criminal under Paskistani law. The weight of their actions carry a heavy sentence as stated in the Pakistan Penal Code S.354A, “If a perpetrator strips a woman naked in public during an assault on her, his punishment may be life imprisonment or death”.
Despite their sentence I doubt that Shahnaz Bibi will feel any justice to the crime commited against her becuase she can no longer face her family members again becuase of this shaming. She was violated of her rights and even though some of the perps will recieve their just desserts, she is no longer a complete person. She is a scarred woman and a broken woman. This incident has affected her younger son and her husband in such a way that they have now left that village even though they are a poor family.
I felt really angry after watching this video and reading about it, but then again, this is one of many atrocities that often times women have had to endure regardless of race, social status, creed, sexual orientaton or religion. I can’t understand why these men took out their fury on this poor woman for another person’s wrong doing but regardless of whether their allegations were true or contrived, the way they treated the mother was below any standard of human dignity. It was shameful and unfortunately, these types of crimes are committed daily in various parts of the world. It is also seemingly common place in many villages in Pakistan that amongst tribe members they deal with tribal disputes between member with violence and crimes against humanity against the family members and/or people in association with the accuseds.
Most of these squabbles are derived from this cultural/or religious desire to maintain “Honor”. It seems that in poor communities and villages, much violence occurs in the name of “Honor”. We can call it barbaric or whatever, but we also have to keep in mind that we need to understand the culture behind these attacks. One horrific article on the matter I cite from is THE GANG-RAPE OF MUKHTAR MAI AND PAKISTAN’S OPPORTUNITY TO REGAIN ITS LOST HONOR. I read that article and thought that it’s horrifying how men in this society place their so called “Honor” to such a high esteem that they feel vindication in the crimes that they commit against women, children and innocent family members of alleged guilty parties.
Women suffer greatly under these conditions and unfortunately most of the women that are vicitmized are those that are disenfranchised. If you look at the general percentage of people in poverty around the world, Women comprise 70% of that population. Statistically speaking, I know that I’m trailing off from the original commentary about the article. but this percentage tells you a lot about how poverty plays as a major factor in regards to the exploitation and brutality experienced by women in their communities and everyday lives.
Pakistan has a lot of issues in their treatment towards women but even Africa and Asia has the same sets of problems. Just read UN reports and you’ll see how harrowing the problems are in the lives of young women to old women and children.
Another article that I found chilling was today’s article on how a Pakistani 9-year old girl was abducted to wear a suicide vest for militants.
According the Reuters:
” Militants in the country have often used young boys to carry out attacks, but the use of women is rare.” – Reuters
9-Year Old victim to suicide vest kidnapping
You can read that article for yourself since I’m not going to expand on it here but it is just an eye opener for those ignorant of world issues. That article and the Shahnaz Bibi article just goes to show you that depravity knows no bounds and in a world where war and poverty seem to be the facilitators of crimes against humanity, I feel a deep anger for women that are victimized and traumatized by this violence and wish for people to become more aware of these problems and consider investing in organizations such as “Becuase I am a girl” . http://plancanada.ca/becauseiamagirl/
Please understand that I’m not trying to incite hatred against Pakistanis or any cultural group for that matter on here; I’m just commenting on how poverty and certain ideologies kept within certain cultural groups affect the lives of women in particular and how poverty plays as a major factor in the vicitimization of women and children in particular.
Anyway, this was my shout out for the day. Feel free to comment.
Sherline's Watchu Thinkin' Blog 