Raw Story is carrying a story from AFP about Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein who may receive as many as 40 lashes for the crime of wearing pants. According to the story, she and other women wore pants to a restaurant, where they were arrested. Several women accepted 10 lashes as punishment.
But Al-Hussein is appealing.
There is some criticism of Western feminists for not supporting her and other Muslim women who are victims of such outrageous restrictions on their human rights. One article circulating on the Net says:
"Feminist journalists like to speculate about the future of activism among women today, but you can leaf through a fat sheaf of their articles without encountering a mention of Muslim women. Feminist professors, for their part, show even less interest. Trolling through the 40-page program of the European Conference on Politics and Gender, held in Belfast last winter, I found feminist scholars (from Europe, the United States and Canada) dealing with women's political opportunities, the implications for women of new medical technology, the politics of fashion and even women's response to climate change. What I couldn't find was even one lecture or discussion devoted to so-called "honour killing." Nor was there any mention of the thousands upon thousands of women routinely flogged, raped, imprisoned or stoned to death, often with the tacit or explicit agreement of Islamic governments."
The article is by Robert Fulford, published in the National Post. He is a Canadian journalist. While I think it is unfortunate that he uses the article to attack feminists, he appears reputable journalista reputable journalist who is not likely to be a shill for anti-feminist interests. He is self-described as "on the conservative end of the liberal spectrum."
However, I do know that I would like to send a small donation to Ms. Al-Hussein to finance her case or her medical treatment. Does anyone know of an organization that is backing her?
Fultford's article goes on to report many facts about honor killings, including one from Ontario, Canada, where parents killed three of their daughters for adopting Western ways. He reports that in Turkey, there is about one honor killing per day.
Fultford contrasts the views of conservative blogger Pamela Geller and (presumed liberal) Deborah Kate feminist: " Once in a while, a few women in the West notice. On Monday, Pamela Geller, a conservative blogger in the United States, suggested that women everywhere should stand up for al-Hussein. She called the silence of women's movements "scandalous, shameful, complicit in the horrible suppression of women in Islam." But more typical is the feminist blog of Deborah Kate, who acknowledges that feminists have been accused of ignoring Muslim women. Kate comes out against stoning, enforced marriage, female circumcision, etc., and wonders idly whether countries guilty of crimes against women deserve sanctions like those levelled at South Africa in its apartheid days. No, she decides, exhibiting the fondness for fashionable moral relativism that is now epidemic in feminist circles, "I realize I cannot force my version of feminism upon non-Western women." "
Is Fulford right? Are we feminists too disengaged from this fight? How can we best put out talent and energies together to make a difference -- or at least to make more noise.
Jay Leno's wife has been outspoken on the plight of Afghan women and, in my view, the treatment of Muslim women is an important topc. I have been watching the activities of women in the current Iranian Green revolution and am very afraid for them.
I'm deeply involved in the fight for health care, so the last thing I need is another cause! Nevertheless, I'd like to find a way to support Muslim women, since they seem the most oppressed and abused among us -- not to underestimate or take away from the oppression and abuse of women wherever it occurs. I know that there is plenty of it everywhere.
I'd welcome hearing suggestions and the experiences of others on the list with these issues.