Lawyer defends men who buried women alive
A lawyer defending Baluchi tribesmen who shot women and buried them alive "told a packed and flabbergasted Parliament on Friday that Baluch tribal traditions helped stop obscenity and then asked fellow lawmakers not to make a big fuss about it."
wtf??? And these are Western allies????
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Very depressing. :(
And that "Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
Apparently cruelly murdering women isn't immoral, but refusing to enter into an arranged marriage is. Sigh.
The case, and the lawyer, are so horrible. I could go on about that, but sometimes there really aren't words.
In terms of framing it, though, I would note that article pointed out that most of parliament was absolutely appalled by this. And as for "Western allies" - the West doesn't have a stellar track record on violence against women either. That doesn't mean anybody gets a free pass - there's no excuse for things like this, ever - but women get abused and murdered in the West too, and their abusers and murderers too often get away with it.
Yes - I shouldn't have talked about that lawyer, specifically, as a Western ally - and here's praying that Parliament there, if truly appalled, can make a difference...
Perversely, some people reading this might use it to try and convince us we are so much better off here in North America that we have "nothing to complain about". Should you *ever* hear this argument, please remind the person making it tha this is like saying that Oh, well, slaves in the antebellum period were beaten, raped and bought and sold, so African-Americans have no problems today.
Re Dominique:
The atrocities to which women in some cultures and countries are subjected is beyond comprehension. Words cannot express my horror at the circumstances of these women's deaths.
However you are correct in that we should not allow the feminist agenda in western countries to be hi-jacked by those who can then claim that our disadvantages pale in comparison to these women. Inequalities are to be viewed from within the societies in which they exist, and how they benefit some and not others. It is meaningless to compare the problems faced by a woman living in a modern, western country with those faced by a woman subjected to tribal law in the province of a third world country, with a culture and a minority interpretation of a religion far removed from our own experiences.
As feminists, we must be aware of the disadvantage suffered by all women within their cultures, and acknowledge that this will vary enormously. We must speak out and demand action for these women as well as ourselves. Yes, the deaths suffered by these women is unspeakably barbaric, but that does not mean a woman in a western nation fighting for such things as reproductive rights should have any less of a voice as a result.