Sexual Assualt in Arab Land
Friend’s email:
Dear Haitham,
Thanks Haitham for the great blog that you provide. I found this link interesting in relation to your post about the hijab… http://www.hrw.org/women/overview-mena.html. It is the Human Rights Watch report on the Middle East and Africa. This is a pretty respected organization and provides a diffrent interpertation of sexual assualt that I believe was overlooked in your original blog, spousal and familial abuse.I use to volunteer as a victim witness advocate in the **(name removed for privacy)** District Attorney’s office in California. While working there I came to report on a number of the sexual assualts, rapes and harassments that make up the frightnening statics of sexual assaults in the U.S. I think the one thing that you may not have known about, or did not comment on, is that the great majority of sexual assaults against women are from men that they know. So it is not on the street as many people think, but in the home that assaults take place. I cannot personally tell you how many women, usually the poor, that came in and told me of the abuse they suffered at the hands of their fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles, and, espescially, husbands.
This is a fact that I don’t think is publicized enough in the U.S. and I don’t know how it is reported in the Middle East, specifically Jordan. I think a blog about the Middle East feels about familial and spousal abuse would be helpful and informative. Thanks again Haitham for the blog and may God protect you for spreding the truth.
Sincerely,
Sean
Thank you, Sean for the link and the great idea of having a blog about sexual assaults in the Middle East.
Unless there is already one we don’t know about! If you happen to know, please enlighten us.
I support the idea 100 percent! If someone is ready to take care of the editing stuff and administration of the posts/comments flow; and another person to take care of the technical staff, design and functions of the blog, I would be happy to donate domain registration, server hosting and installing a blog.
Probably Kinzi would be interested to help, maybe in consultation and consoling!
Any better ideas?
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6 Comments on “Sexual Assualt in Arab Land”
Thanks for posting my letter Haitham. I didn’t inlcude any idea about what to do if you or someone you love is raped. I believe the best resource on the internet for the United States is Rape, Abuse, Incest National Networks website. There you can find information on what to do if you are raped, if someone you know is raped, and small preventive measures one can take. Here is the link http://www.rainn.org/what-should-i-do/index.html?PHPSESSID=6c0c0d73434b813bf453fd0804c4fb86
I just want to reiterate one thing that is mentioned in the article, that rape and sexual assualts are never, NEVER, the victims fault. This is a violent crime that violates all notions of human decency and universal human rights. Please report this crime, if possible in your country. Do not be silent. I love you all and may God bless you.
Sean, I am amazed (but not really, after reading some of your posts)about your willingness to help victims. I am one, and that horrible part of my life has been redeemed by God’s grace and enabled me to be able to help other women.
Haithim, this is actually what I want to blog about! (this Fall Insha’Allah). I WILL need help for all the technical stuff. A blog is the perfect place for women to annonymously get started on learning to say ‘no’ and pursue the path to healing.
I am in the process of interviewing Jordanian sexual abuse victims and organizations who help them for an article. It was your comment on the subject last year that got me going, as it seems a traditional society has as many pitfalls to create abusive situations as liberal secular societies do. Sadly, further research has shown the continued pattern of older brothers abusing sisters. I hope that this research and article will provide a catalyst for change…although I have been warned it will be a fight.
Sean,
Thanks for the link and info.
Kinzi,
I’ll be happy to give a hand if I can. Please let me know.
Sean,
What a terrific idea! Spousal abuse — sexual, physical, emotional, verbal — is too often ignored. It is, I believe, one of the worst violations of what God created. After all, didn’t he intend for the man and woman to sacrifice themselves for each other? In the Christian scriptures, a man is given the reponsibility to lead, but in doing so, he is to give himself to his wife sacrificially, as Christ did for the church. In other words, he doesn’t lead with his fists, but with his gentle guidance (needless to say, taking into account his wife’s needs before his own). I am a novice to Islam; what does the Koran say about the man’s/husband’s role? I would assume something similar in nature.
I will never understand how a man can lift his hand against a woman. There was a time in my life when I could have done so out of self-defense but could not bear the thought even then. How sad for any woman to live with the pain of abuse and the mortal fear, since the man is usually stronger physically.
Kinzi, how horrible that you had to suffer it, but how wonderful that God worked good out of the evil done to you (that good being the help you give other women).
Thanks Philip, yes, God is truly a Wonderful Counselor. Jesus is an awesome Wounded Healer. I’ll be checking out your blog at some point soon!
Thanks, Kinzi! I don’t have a blog, but the Deathway site I design may be interesting to you.