Saturday, November 18, 2006

What's Islam Done For Women Lately?











Moving from religious nuttiness in the west to religious crazies in the east, we start with the good news that Pakistan after months of promises and delays has finally moved rape charges out of Islamic law, Hudood law, and into secular criminal courts.
Yes, it took till November 2006 to reverse a law that said in order to charge a man with rape, a woman must produce four male eye witnesses. If she fails to win her challenge, she is charged with adultery, which could lead to lashes or stoning.
After many centuries of crazy, we'll have to see if there is real progress. Religious leaders lament that this change will turn Pakistan into a 'free sex zone'. It has produced thousands of false charges every year against victims of rape.
Things are worse in Afghanistan where there's an 85% illiteracy rate and chronic poverty among women.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

well good news for the women in pakistan at least....geeze, talk about barbaric laws!!!!

meanwhiile, holland is moving towards trying to ban women wearing the burka in public....no no no, the world isn't a crazy place at all!

Anonymous said...

The steps they take seem agonizingly slow to us, but I bet it's revolutionary stuff to them. Sometimes I think you win the only lottery that counts the day you're born in the western hemisphere.