Middle-East-Info.org - Discrimination Against Women and Child Abuse in Arab states and Iran

SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN
CHILD ABUSE
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)

Genital mutilation of girl

. FGM is carried out with knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor

blades. The mutilation is usually done without anesthetics. Instruments are usually not sterile. Mortality is high. More ...

Prebubescent

child brides with their adult grooms in mass Palestinian state wedding of 450 "couples" in Gaza (AlJazeera, Aug 2, 2009) |

LiveLeak
8-year-old girl's marriage ruled legal in Saudi Arabia

Ritual Ashura self-mutilation -

children in Baghdad

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini's Religious Teachings on Marriage, Divorce and Relationships (Parvin Darabi, USA-based Dr. Homa Darabi Foundation website, Jun 10, 2006: "A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual act such as forplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not comitted a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man's four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl's sister."

Palestinian terrorists use Palestinian children as human shields. This photo was taken in the Palestinian Autonomy (Gaza Strip) by Reuters on Feb 11, 2004. Note how the armed men wearing the distinguishing hooded mask of a Palestinian terrorist, fire from among unarmed civilians, including children, making it impossible for Israeli soldiers to defend without harming the children. This tactic has been successfully adopted by Palestinian terrorists to blame Israel for the deaths of children and civilians so deliberately and cynically caused by the Palestinians' own actions.
World-leader in Executing Children
Mickey Mouse Clone Teaches on Palestinian TV Terror to Kids

Lebanese Islamic terrorists use Arab civilians including children as a human shields. Israeli flyer warning Lebanese people after Hizballah attacked Israeli cities in July 2006: "To all citizens south of the Litani River Due to the terror activities being carried out against the State of Israel from within your villages and homes, the IDF is forced to respond immediately against these activities, even within your villages. For your safety! We call upon you to evacuate your villages and move north of the Litani River. State of Israel"

"Ask for death" is the message that the Palestinian Authority has been conveying to its children (PMW, Apr 2, 2004)

Children program hosted by Egyptian cleric, Sheik Muhammad Sharaf Al-Din, which aired on Al-Nas TV, on June 21, 2006: "The Jews Are the People of Treachery, Betrayal, and Vileness" | Transcript

Millions of girls denied access to school - Child soldiers - Incitement of children to hatred - Child & women slavery

Children of the Jihad. Palestinian kids raised for war. Taught to hate, kill Jews through 'Sesame Street'-type TV show (Jon E. Dougherty and David Kupelian, Nov 3, 2000): "Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews, to glorify "jihad" (holy war), violence, death and child martyrdom almost from birth, as an essential part of their culture and destiny."

Shia Muslims mark Ashura (BBC, Mar 24, 2002): "Thousands of Shia Muslims - many bloodied from beating themselves - marched through Lebanon's cities on Sunday to commemorate the killing of one of their most revered figures, Imam Hussein."

Ahmadinejad's Demons (Matthias Küntzel, The New Republic, Apr 24, 2006): During the Iran-Iraq War, the Ayatollah Khomeini imported 500,000 small plastic keys from Taiwan. ... To compensate for their disadvantage, Khomeini sent Iranian children, some as young as twelve years old, to the front lines. There, they marched in formation across minefields toward the enemy, clearing a path with their bodies. Before every mission, one of the Taiwanese keys would be hung around each child’s neck. It was supposed to open the gates to paradise for them. At one point, however, the earthly gore became a matter of concern. “In the past,” wrote the semi-official Iranian daily Ettelaat as the war raged on, “we had child-volunteers: 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds. They went into the minefields. Their eyes saw nothing. Their ears heard nothing. And then, a few moments later, one saw clouds of dust. When the dust had settled again, there was nothing more to be seen of them. Somewhere, widely scattered in the landscape, there lay scraps of burnt flesh and pieces of bone.” Such scenes would henceforth be avoided, Ettelaat assured its readers. “Before entering the minefields, the children [now] wrap themselves in blankets and they roll on the ground, so that their body parts stay together after the explosion of the mines and one can carry them to the graves.”

"Amnesty International is gravely concerned at reports that 14 girls have lost their lives and dozens of others were injured following a fire at their school in Mecca on 11 March 2002 after the religious police (Mutawa'een) prevented them from escaping from the fire because they were not wearing headscarves and their male relatives were not there to receive them. The religious police are also reported to have prevented rescuers from entering the school because they were males and therefore not permitted to mix with females." - Mar 15, 2002

Saudi Arabia - Questions of Human Rights (Website of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London): "Q: Why can women not travel freely and alone within Saudi Arabia? A: This phenomena is not limited to Saudi Arabia. This custom prevails in many Muslim countries. There is a religious basis for it: the Prophet Mohamed said that no women should travel for more than one night without her husband or a mahram, for example her father, son or uncle. Some Muslim scholars believe that the Prophet's instruction was based on the unsafe travel conditions of the time. They argue that as travel is no longer risky, that injunction does not apply. However, religious scholars in Saudi Arabia do not accept this interpretation, and neither do the majority of the Saudi people. This is not a matter of government decree; it is a matter of deep personal belief."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (accessed Aug 12, 2007): "Female genital mutilation (FGM), or female circumcision as it is sometimes erroneously referred to, involves surgical removal of parts or all of the most sensitive female genital organs. ... It is believed that, by mutilating the female's genital organs, her sexuality will be controlled; but above all it is to ensure a woman's virginity before marriage and chastity thereafter. In fact, FGM imposes on women and the girl child a catalogue of health complications and untold psychological problems. The practice of FGM violates, among other international human rights laws, the right of the child to the 'enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health', as laid down in article 24 (paras. 1 and 3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

"Instruments" for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Egyptian girl undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Excerpts from Hosken Report, Somalia Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females, Fourth Revised Edition, 1993 (Women’s International Network News) (PDF 66 KB): "The child, completely naked, is made to sit on a low stool. Several women take hold of her and open her legs wide. After separating her outer and inner lips, the operator, usually a woman experienced in this procedure, sits down facing the child. With her kitchen knife the operator first pierces and slices open the hood of the clitoris. Then she begins to cut it out. While another woman wipes off the blood with a rag, the operator digs with her sharp fingernail a hole the length of the clitoris to detach and pull out the organ. The little girl, held down by the women helpers, screams in extreme pain; but no one pays the slightest attention.The operator finishes this job by entirely pulling out the clitoris, cutting it to the bone with her knife. Her helpers again wipe off the spurting blood with a rag. The operator then removes the remaining flesh, digging with her finger to remove any remnant of the clitoris among the flowing blood. The neighbor women are then invited to plunge their fingers into the bloody hole to verify that every piece of the clitoris is removed."

Health consequences of FGM (Fact sheet no. 241 Female Genital Mutilation, World Health Organization, WHO official website, June 2004): "Immediate complications include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, urine retention, ulceration of the genital region and injury to adjacent tissue. Haemorrhage and infection can cause death. More recently, concern has arisen about possible transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to the use of one instrument in multiple operations, but this has not been the subject of detailed research. Long-term consequences include cysts and abscesses, keloid scar formation, damage to the urethra resulting in urinary incontinence, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse) and sexual dysfunction and difficulties with childbirth. Psychosexual and psychological health: Genital mutilation may leave a lasting mark on the life and mind of the woman who has undergone it. In the longer term, women may suffer feelings of incompleteness, anxiety and depression."

Female Genital Mutilation (World Health Organization, 1999, p. 149-154): (PDF, 672 KB)
97% of Egyptian women[= 29 million] have undergone Female Genital Mutilation
98% of Djibouti women [= 250,000] have undergone Female Genital Mutilation
98% of Somali women [= 5 million] have undergone Female Genital Mutilation
25% of Mauritanian women [= 750,000] have undergone Female Genital Mutilation

Report on Female Genital Mutilation, Yemen (U.S. Department of State, Jun 1, 2001):
"... 96 percent of women in Hodeidah, Hadraumaut and Al-Maharah had undergone this procedure, while Aden and Sana'a city were 82 percent and 45.5 percent, respectively."

The World Medical Association Statement on Female Genital Mutilation, Oct 1993: “The World Medical Association condemns the practice of genital mutilation including circumcision where women and girls are concerned and condemns the participation of physicians in the execution of such practices.”

Policy Statement | Female Genital Mutilation (American Academy of Pediatrics, PEDIATRICS Vol. 102 No. 1 Jul 1998, pp. 153-156): “... pediatricians and pediatric surgical specialists should be aware that this practice [FGM] has serious, life-threatening health risks for children and women. The AAP opposes all forms of FGM …” [Disturbing graphical descriptions included]

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR official website, Jul 9, 2004): "In France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States, it has been officially recognized that genital mutilation represents a form of persecution and that this can be a basis for refugee status. In one case, a woman who feared persecution in her country because of her refusal to inflict genital mutilation on her infant daughter was recognized as a refugee."

Why is FGM any different to the circumcision of boys? (Spinifex Press, Nov 14, 2004): "The circumcision of boy-children, in the form it is known in Australia, involves the removal of the foreskin, or prepuce, from the penis. This act is performed for reasons of religion, in the Jewish faith, or for culturally imposed concepts of hygiene or for aesthetic reasons. 'The degree of cutting in female circumcision is anatomically much more extensive [than in male circumcision]. The male equivalent of clitoridectomy (in which all or part of the clitoris is removed) would be the amputation of most of the penis. The male equivalent of infibulation (which involves not only clitoridectomy, but the removal or closing off of the sensitive tissue around the vagina) would be removal of all the penis, its roots of soft tissue, and part of the scrotal skin.'(Nahid Toubia, Female Genital Mutilation, p.9) Unlike FGM, male circumcision is not performed with the aim of diminishing the sexual desire or drive of the male, nor to ensure chastity or virginity."

Defending Muslim Women from Beatings (Othman Al-Rawwaf, Saudi columnist for the London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat/MEMRI, Aug 25, 2003): "The book, 'Women in Islam,' describes how men should beat their wives, citing the Koranic verse: "And [as to] those on whose part you fear disobedience, admonish them, expel them from the bed, and beat them [ 4:34]." ,,, "Wife-beating cannot be explained in terms of necessity and non-painful methods when speaking with non-Muslims, and even with many Muslim women… The [participating] Shari'a experts gave various answers, some of them explaining the reasons and justifications for wife-beating. When one of the professors of Shari'a used his pencil [to demonstrate], tapping his hand lightly and explaining to those present, 'Such is wife-beating in Islam, light and not painful,' cries of laughter and astonishment broke out in the hall..."

Female Desire and Islamic Trauma (Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, May 25, 2004): "A woman's rampant desires and irresistible attractiveness gives her a power over men that even rivals God's. She must be contained, for her unbridled sexuality poses a direct danger to the social order. (Symbolic of this, the Arabic word fitna means both civil disorder and beautiful woman.) The entire Muslim social structure can be understood as containing female sexuality. It goes to great lengths to separate the sexes and reduce contact between them. This explains such customs as the covering of women's faces and the separation of women's residential quarters, or the harem. Many other institutions serve to reduce female power over men, such as her need for a male's permission to travel, work, marry, or divorce. Revealingly, a traditional Muslim wedding took place between two men – the groom and the bride's guardian."

Jordanian Parliament Supports Impunity For Honor Killings (Human Rights Watch): (Washington DC, January 27, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch today condemned the failure of the Jordanian Lower House to end impunity for men who murder female family members in the name of preserving the "honor" of the family. "For too long, men in Jordan have been getting away with murder," said Regan Ralph, executive director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "This vote is a slap in the face of Jordanian women who have been organizing to stop the killings." ... This is the second time in two months that the Jordanian Lower House has failed to abolish Article 340 of the Penal Code, which provides for lenient sentences when men kill their female relatives in the name of "honor." Parliamentarians justified their defense of honor killings as protection of Jordan's traditional and moral values against western influences. ... Human Rights Watch further called on the Jordanian parliament to provide protection for women threatened by their family members on the basis of "honor," and to abolish other laws that discriminate against women, including the rape law, citizenship law, passport law, and social security law."

Honor killing in national legal codes (Wikipaedia, Jul 19, 2006): Countries where the law allow men to kill female relatives include:

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR official website, Jul 9, 2004): "A woman who fears attack for her refusal to wear a chador or other restrictive clothing, or because of her desire to choose her own spouse and live an independent life, may qualify to be a refugee."

This is not Islam (Paris based Iranian journalist Amir Taheri, The New York Post, Aug 15, 2003): "Muslim women could easily check the fraudulent nature of the neo-Islamist hijab by leafing through their family albums. They will not find the picture of a single female ancestor of theirs who wore the cursed headgear now marketed as an absolute "must" of Islam. This fake Islamic hijab is nothing but a political prop, a weapon of visual terrorism. It is the symbol of a totalitarian ideology inspired more by Nazism and Communism than by Islam. It is as symbolic of Islam as the Mao uniform was of Chinese civilization. It is used as a means of exerting pressure on Muslim women who do not wear it because they do not share the sick ideology behind it. It is a sign of support for extremists who wish to impose their creed, first on Muslims, and then on the world through psychological pressure, violence, terror, and, ultimately, war."

Hijab Photo Gallery (ModernMuslima.com, May 2, 2006)

"Ten minute marriages" (Agence France Presse, June 20, 1998): "These are marriages in name only, not least because men have theright to deny their responsibilities for any children born of the temporary liaisons. This controversial law allows Iranian men to fornicate, so long as they register their intentions with a religious Sharia court where they fill out a form specifying how long they intend to ``enjoy'' their partner. In many cases the two sides agree to a ten-minute ``quickie'' in which they are able to satisfy each other and still keep within the law. ``The enjoyment marriage is nothing but a legal cover for prostitution,'' says Mahran Keys Doltchahi, a professor at Iran's Free University. ``How can anyone in the world claim that a marriage for ten minutes is a legal act. ... ``My temporary husbands have included one ayatollah, 21 senior clergymen, five famous merchants, a few hundred university students and the head of a hospital in the holy city of Qom.''The hypocrisy of the clergy was highlighted last year when the former government prosecutor, Hojatulislam Mohammedi, was asked if he approved of enjoyment marriages. Mohammedi said he fully supported the concept because it prevented young people from sinning."

One minor girl, many Arabs (Mohammed Wajihuddin, The Times of India, Sep 4, 2005): "They are old predators with new vigour. Often bearded, invariably in flowing robes and expensive turbans. The rich, middle-aged Arabs increasingly stalk the deprived streets of Hyderabad like medieval monarchs would stalk their harems in days that we wrongly think are history. These Viagra enabled Arabs are perpetrating a blatant crime under the veneer of nikaah, the Islamic rules of marriage. Misusing the sanctioned provision which allows a Muslim man to have four wives at a time, many old Arabs are not just marrying minors in Hyderabad, but marrying more than one minor in a single sitting. ... The broker procured Farheen Sultana and Hina Sultana, aged between thirteen and fifteen, for twenty thousand rupees. Then he hired Qazi Mohammed Abdul Waheed Qureshi to solemnise the marriage. The Qazi [MEI comment: an Islamic judge, usually spelled qadi in English], taking advantage of an Islamic provision, married the girls off to the Arab. After the wedding night with the girls, the Arab left at dawn."

Eye of the Storm: Arabia's deficit of hope (Paris-based Iranian journalist Amir Taheri, JP, May 28, 2004): "Sitting behind the desk is a person dressed all in black with a veil covering the entire face. The attire is more dramatic than the burqaa imposed on Afghan women by the Taliban until the country was liberated more than two years ago. The burqaa allowed for a lace-like veil that included some holes for the eyes to see and the nose to breathe. This one, however, is total. When we ask a question, the person behind the desk answers in a voice that sounds like the Daleks, a robot-like voice twisted to become unrecognizable. A guide explains that the person behind the desk is, in fact, a woman, and that she changes her voice in accordance with an "Islamic" rule that insists that a woman's real voice should not be heard by any man who is not her grandfather, father, brother, son, or husband."

Lebanon: Torture and ill-treatment of women in pre-trial detention: a culture of acquiescence (Amnesty International, Aug 22, 2001): "Widespread torture or other ill-treatment of women detainees, especially those accused of major criminal offences, takes place in police stations. Women in pre-trial detention are routinely held in incommunicado detention and coerced to confess guilt or testify against themselves at a time when they lack the protection of the law. Women accused of political offences have also been tortured or ill-treated. Another vulnerable category of women are migrant workers, who have frequently been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in detention."

SAUDI ARABIA: GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST WOMEN (Amnesty International, Sep 27, 2000): "Discrimination against women impacts upon and compounds the wide range of human rights violations commonly reported in Saudi Arabia. These violations, which have been described in detail in two recent Amnesty International reports on Saudi Arabia, A Justice System Without Justice and A Secret State of Suffering1, include arbitrary arrest and detention as facilitated by the wide-ranging powers enjoyed by the arresting authorities; vague written and unwritten laws; secret and grossly unfair trials; torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and the use of the death penalty."

Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice (Freedom House Survey, May 20, 2005):
"Country Ratings for Saudi Arabia
Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice: 1.2
Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person: 1.1
Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity: 1.4
Political Rights and Civic Voice: 1.0
Social and Cultural Rights: 1.6
(Scale of 1 to 5: 1 represents the lowest and 5 the highest level of freedom women have to exercise their rights)"

Slavery and Slave Redemption in the Sudan (Human Rights Watch, March 2002):
"... government-backed and armed militia of the Baggara tribes raid to capture children and women who are then held in conditions of slavery in western Sudan and elsewhere. They are forced to work for free in homes and in fields, punished when they refuse, and abused physically and sometimes sexually. Raids are directed mostly at the civilian Dinka population of the southern region of Bahr El Ghazal. The government arms and sanctions the practice of slavery ..."

Sex Slave Jihad, Donna M. Hughes, FrontPageMagazine, Jan 27, 2004): "The head of Iran’s Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls. ... For example, following the recent earthquake in Bam, orphaned girls have been kidnapped and taken to a known slave market in Tehran where Iranian and foreign traders meet. ... Popular destinations for victims of the slave trade are the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. According to the head of the Tehran province judiciary, traffickers target girls between 13 and 17, although there are reports of some girls as young as 8 and 10, to send to Arab countries."

From Article XXII of the Israel-PLO Accord (the "Oslo II" agreement) signed Sept. 28, 1995:
1. Israel and the [Palestinian] Council shall seek to foster mutual understanding and tolerance and shall accordingly abstain from incitement, including hostile propaganda, against each other and, without derogating from the principle of freedom of _expression, shall take legal measures to prevent such incitement by any organizations, groups or individuals within their jurisdiction.
2. Israel and the [Palestinian] Council will ensure that their respective educational systems contribute to the peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and to peace in the entire region, and will refrain from the introduction of any motifs that could adversely affect the process of reconciliation.

PALESTINIAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE THROES OF ISLAMIKAZE TERRORISM (Raphael Israeli): "The world often views Islam as a seventh century anachronism. But the truth is the Islamic world is playing and winning a sophisticated game of media manipulation in which powerful and wealthy police states and anti-democratic political movements are more often portrayed and perceived – at least in the context of the Arab-Jewish conflict – as victims rather than threatening oppressors. This paper will contrast what Islamic leaders say about their intentions for the state of Israel in English while western television cameras are rolling and what they say to their own constituents in Arabic."