I need to watch Harry Potter or something so the bad stuff will go away.
Afghanistan legalizes marital rape
Shortly after Hillary Clinton called the failure of U.S. aid to Afghanistan "heartbreaking," there came some illustrative news: President Hamid Karzai has legalized rape within marriage. You might ask, nervously: This is a sick April Fool's joke, right? Sadly, no, this is a sick reality.
The law, which applies to the minority Shia population, renders meaningless sexual consent within marriage. A Shia woman is allowed to refuse her husband sex if she is sick, but otherwise she has no sexual say-so. As if that weren't enough of a blow to female freedom, the law, believed to be a desperate bid by Karzai for reelection this summer, also stipulates that women must have their husband's permission to leave the house.
In sum, the Shia Family Law legally codifies that common, if taboo, cross-cultural belief that a husband deserves free reign over his wife's body -- oh, and his daughters' bodies. The law bars women from having custody of their own children and endorses child marriage.
Human rights activists say the law annihilates the progress made on women's rights since the fall of the Taliban. In fact, some say it actually makes things "worse than during the Taliban." Mm-hm: Worse than the women-hating (-imprisoning, -beating, -flogging, -mutilating, -stoning) Taliban.
* * *
I'm sickened. But possibly more so by a particular person's comments:
"When a woman says no, sure, let her say no, but also, if a man wants to enjoy his wife, i think he should be allowed to."
Yes, that is someone who uses LJ, yes that is someone who I know, and yes, that is a US citizen (Though, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps he's really a Cyberman).
I want to believe otherwise, but I fear that his opinion may actually be closer to the US public's opinion than I realize. Either that, or I need to pick better people to associate with.
Shortly after Hillary Clinton called the failure of U.S. aid to Afghanistan "heartbreaking," there came some illustrative news: President Hamid Karzai has legalized rape within marriage. You might ask, nervously: This is a sick April Fool's joke, right? Sadly, no, this is a sick reality.
The law, which applies to the minority Shia population, renders meaningless sexual consent within marriage. A Shia woman is allowed to refuse her husband sex if she is sick, but otherwise she has no sexual say-so. As if that weren't enough of a blow to female freedom, the law, believed to be a desperate bid by Karzai for reelection this summer, also stipulates that women must have their husband's permission to leave the house.
In sum, the Shia Family Law legally codifies that common, if taboo, cross-cultural belief that a husband deserves free reign over his wife's body -- oh, and his daughters' bodies. The law bars women from having custody of their own children and endorses child marriage.
Human rights activists say the law annihilates the progress made on women's rights since the fall of the Taliban. In fact, some say it actually makes things "worse than during the Taliban." Mm-hm: Worse than the women-hating (-imprisoning, -beating, -flogging, -mutilating, -stoning) Taliban.
* * *
I'm sickened. But possibly more so by a particular person's comments:
"When a woman says no, sure, let her say no, but also, if a man wants to enjoy his wife, i think he should be allowed to."
Yes, that is someone who uses LJ, yes that is someone who I know, and yes, that is a US citizen (Though, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps he's really a Cyberman).
I want to believe otherwise, but I fear that his opinion may actually be closer to the US public's opinion than I realize. Either that, or I need to pick better people to associate with.