The root of all evil

"A third of Britons believe a woman who acts flirtatiously is partially or completely to blame for being raped, according to a new study. More than a quarter also believe a woman is at least partly responsible for being raped if she wears sexy or revealing clothing, or is drunk, the study found. One in five think a woman is partly to blame if it is known she has many sexual partners, while more than a third believe she is responsible to some degree if she has clearly failed to say "no" to the man.

In each of these scenarios a slightly greater proportion of men than women held these views - except when it came to being drunk, when it was equal. In fact more women (5pc) than men (3pc) thought a woman was "totally responsible" for being raped if she was intoxicated."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=369262&in_page_id=1770

"Michelle Leslie refutes claims that wearing a Muslim headscarf during her trial was a stunt. Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali today said that if Leslie resumed work as an underwear model, she must admit that her claim that she had converted to Islam almost two years ago was a stunt. "If she wants to be a Muslim, she has to be very modest in her dress sense, modest in her language, modest in the way that she looks - everything."
http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/11/religious-conviction.html

"A series of soft-porn images of Ms Leslie posing for several fashion labels are likely to further generate debate over her claim to have become a recent convert to Islam. They are the types of images from which several agencies told the Herald they would discourage their models participating. In one image for Tsubi's 2004 calendar, Leslie is pictured astride a motorbike wearing a pair of derriere-baring jeans.

She posed for the current spring/summer catalogue of Sydney swimwear brand Azzollini shortly before her arrest in Bali and during the period in which she claims to have been studying Islam. She sits on a beach with her legs spread wide open before the camera." http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/she-may-already-be-at-end-of-road/2005/11/22/1132421665490.html


"A village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood "marriages". The women, who are related, were married in absentia by a mullah in their Punjabi village to the sons of their family's enemies in 1996, when they were aged between six and 13. The marriages were part of a compensation deal ordered by the village council after one of the girls' fathers shot dead a rival. The rivals have now called in the "debt", demanding the marriages be fulfilled.

Their fathers have refused to hand them over to men they say are illiterate, leading to a resumption of the blood feud. Two of their relatives were shot recently and 20 people arrested. In addition to the sentence on the women, the council has sentenced to death Ms Niazi's father, Jehan Khan, and her uncles for failing to honour the deal. The women have said they will kill themselves if their fathers obey the council.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has condemned the "barbaric custom of vani" - the tradition of handing over women to resolve disputes - and called on the President, Pervez Musharraf, to intervene.

Ms Niazi, who hopes to become an English lecturer, said: "We are proud of our father. Despite having little money, he has educated us and shown us that we must stand up in society and demand our rights." Mr Niazi, who is a government accountant, said his family had already paid blood money to the aggrieved party.

"I have refused to give into the council's request as it is un-Islamic. I cannot hand over my girls like goats to marry these illiterate boys."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/blood-feud-women-offered-up-for-rape/2005/11/22/1132421669304.html


"In a public address last month, Faiz is reported to have said there is a victim of rape somewhere in the world every minute, and that the woman is usually to blame. "She displayed her beauty to the entire world. She degraded herself by being an object of sexual desire and thus becoming vulnerable to a man who looks at her for gratification of his sexual urge." Faiz's comments, that women largely bear responsibility for rape if they make themselves an object of sexual desire, have upset many in a religious community that is still haunted by images and stories of Bosnian refugees being gang-raped during the recent war.

Not surprisingly, most in the Muslim community feel revulsion at his comments. Yet there has been little significant response from Muslim community leaders, when condemnation of Faiz's comments should have been swift. Like other Australians, most Muslims believe rape is a crime; that rapists should and must be punished. Women and men are subject to sexual assault regardless of what they wear. And sadly, idiots of all religious denominations sometimes claim that women could avoid being raped by dressing more modestly, but I am yet to read any scripture or learn of a religion that justifies rape.

Muslims have to speak out. We cannot afford to rely on our non-English-speaking imams and feuding leaders to make incoherent noises while we are busy getting on with our lives."
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3447

"The indigenous leader and ALP vice-president, Warren Mundine, has rebuked Aboriginal men for the horrific level of domestic violence in many communities. He said bashing women was not part of traditional Aboriginal culture, and he was tired of the excuses men made for their behaviour, including blaming alcohol, and problems at home. "I'm tired of hearing Aboriginal men say they bashed their wife because white fellows took our country," he said yesterday. "Now that really [teaches] the white fellows a lesson."

Mr Mundine said part of the problem was that violence towards women appeared to be acceptable. Referring to a barbeque he attended in Dubbo a few years ago, he said: "I was talking to some men about domestic violence and what really shocked me was they could suck a beer and eat a sausage sandwich and talk about slapping their wives and girlfriends around as if they were talking about the weather."

Women were the backbone of Aboriginal families, he said, and the communities would suffer if the women were "kicked in the guts day after day".

Irfan Yusuf, a lawyer and columnist for the Australian Islamic Review, called on imans to cease lecturing "models on what sort of dress they should wear" and instead lecture men on how they should treat women."
http://smh.com.au/news/national/no-excuse-for-violence-says-aboriginal-leader/2005/11/22/1132421665523.html