November 21, 2007
Thankful to live in the USA
Have you seen this? (and this version of the same news report?) A 19-year old woman in Saudi Arabia was gang raped by seven men. Because she was in a car with a male who was not her relative, but rather a student she used to know, she is being punished with six months in jail and 200 lashes. She will be permanently scarred from those lashes, not like being gang-raped by seven men wouldn’t be scarring enough or anything. I should also mention the number of lashes was doubled when she went to the media to try to get help.
It’s when I read about things like this, that it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to live in the country that I do. We’re not perfect here. We have problems with womens issues and we certainly have issues with rape here too. But I doubt there is a single person in this country who thinks that a victim of gang-rape by seven men needs any additional punishment for her so-called "crime."
When I was in graduate school, I used to tutor three master’s level students from Saudi Arabia. I helped them as an ESL (English as a Second Language) tutor. We would often sit and have long conversations about Saudi Arabia and what life was like there. One of my students told me that there was virtually no crime there because those who steal lose their hands, quite a deterrent for a shop-lifter. While it’s all fine and good that their robbery rates may be lower, the media is often reporting vicious rapes that punish the victims. We also hear about honor killings where families believe that once a woman has been raped, it’s their responsibility to kill their own family member to restore honor to their family.
It’s this warped kind of thinking that infuriates me. It shows a complete lack of respect for women. It shows a complete inability to empathize with a victim. It gives men free reign to do whatever they want to the poor women who live in countries with ridiculous laws like these, because women don’t want to report the crime for fear that they’ll be given lashes and jail time as well, if not worse. While the men in the Saudi Arabia incident are being punished with jail time, what they’re doing to the woman is nothing short of disgusting. They are taking a young victim of a violent crime and further destroying her.
For those who might say that it’s none of our business what they are doing in Saudi Arabia and other countries that buy into this ridiculous mind set, I couldn’t disagree more. What they’re doing to that woman and others like her is a crime that should concern us all. It’s a crime against human decency.
Edited to add: Al Jazeera states in their article covering this issue, that the male friend of the rape victim was also raped by the men. He too, received 90 lashes. While the US papers are reporting that the rapists have been sentenced to five years in prison, Al Jazeera states that the men are receiving 1-5 years in jail. Big difference. All parties are receiving lashes. Click on the second link above to read the full story. My point is that the sentencing the victims to lashes is ludicrous!
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While I don’t disagree with the sentiment, for the record, the men didn’t have “free reign to do whatever they want to the poor women who live in countries with ridiculous laws like these.” The men were found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Still low, but not “free reign.”
While I have read this elsewhere, I didn’t see this in the Fox News article. Not sure why.
Very low, and while the men got jail time, the victim got jail time AND lashes which are deforming, something she’ll have for life.
As far as “free reign” goes, the men who kill their own sisters in “honor killings” are given free reign, and the sentences that all men get over there are pathetic. If they want to cut off the hands of those who steal, then why don’t they. . . I think you can see where I’m going with this.
They’re way too relaxed on sentencing men over there (here too in my opinion), and the victims almost always suffer some type of punishment as well, simply for being around a male they didn’t know, which I would bet deters a lot of women from speaking up. It’s all ridiculous.
I would be scared to leave my house if I was living over there. Women are treated worse than dirt.
My understanding is that it’s very difficult to prove rape in Islamic countries, as four male witnesses are required. Just imagine the likelihood of four uninvolved men watching a rape, and then testifying against the rapist. It’s very close to saying that rape is not a crime in Islamic countries.
I agree, it’s an outrage. Exactly what to do about it–that’s the hard part.
thank you for saying what many of us are thinking.
This stuff… saddens and disgusts me. Mostly disgusts me. The women in this country, and those like it… like BBM said, I’d be afraid to leave the house. I am so grateful that I live in this country, regardless of it’s imperfection. This is not justice. Thanks for posting this.
Comparisons like this are often good illustrations of how much we do have to be thankful for. This situation also raises the question about our relation, as a country, to Saudi Arabia. We provide them with boatloads of aid and military equipment. We protected them against Saddam’s imminent invasion in the first Gulf War, at the cost of many American lives. Yet, this is a country that cuts off the hands of petty thieves, and jails and lashes women who have been raped. I’m thankful that I don’t live there, but I’m distressed that my government continues to support the Saudi government that perpetrates these violations of basic human rights, thereby tacitly endorsing them. However, I am thankful that I live in a society that allows me to voice my concerns freely, without fear of official sanctions for my opinions. If only Saudi citizens had the same freedom, perhaps theirs would be a more just society for all. Thanks for the thoughtful, as ever, post, and a Happy Thanksgiving to the entire Black Belt family.