(no subject)

[sophiaserpentia]

Sometimes i'm just absolutely stunned by the depths to which hatred of women can sink. And i'm dismayed when i see how often the primary excuse is "defending our religious traditions."

Maybe it's the peace, love, and compassion speaking, but no principle is worth defending if it creates injustice.

Lawmakers from a coalition of six Islamic groups threatened on Tuesday to vacate their parliamentary seats if Pakistan's government changes a rape law criticized by human rights activists.

... Under the current law, approved by a former military dictator in 1979, prosecuting a rape case requires testimony from four witnesses, making punishment almost impossible because such attacks are rarely public. A woman who claims she was raped but fails to prove her case can be convicted of adultery, punishable by death.

Maulana Fazalur Rahman, a leader of the Islamic coalition, said Tuesday that lawmakers in his group would vacate their seats in the National Assembly if the government tries to get the assembly's approval to change the law.

"We will render every sacrifice for the protection of the Shariah (traditional Islamic) laws," he said at a news conference.

However, the ruling Pakistan Muslim Party — which has a majority in the assembly — has praised Musharraf for taking steps to amend the law and end the four-witness requirement.

from Rape law rankles some Pakistan lawmakers

Comments

Re: I feel nauseous now.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Indeed - American women are lambasted with the platitude - "See how much worse it could be for you? You should be grateful!" Well, what is gratitude? It is something you owe to someone who has given you something out of the goodness of their heart. To say American women should be grateful for the rights they have implies men just decided out of the goodness of their hearts to one day give women the right to vote, have abortions, use contraception, receive children and property after a divorce, and domestic violence shelters for women whose husbands are beating them. The reality is that American women fought tooth and nail for over 200 years to get every right we have and are still fighting for the things we don't have. We don't owe anyone a debt of gratitude except our feminist foremothers (and the small minority of men who helped them with their fight).