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Saudi women are subject to strict sex segregation laws
A lawyer for a gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six-months in jail says the punishment contravenes Islamic law.
The woman was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.
When she appealed, judges doubled her sentence, saying she had been trying to use the media to influence them.
Her lawyer has been suspended from the case and faces a disciplinary session.
Abdel Rahman al-Lahem told the BBC Arabic Service that the sentence was in violation of Islamic law:
"My client is the victim of this abhorrent crime. I believe her sentence contravenes the Islamic Sharia law and violates the pertinent international conventions," he said.
"The judicial bodies should have dealt with this girl as the victim rather than the culprit."
The lawyer also said that his client would appeal against the decision to increase her punishment.
This is an excerpt from an article from the BBC which describes the treatment of a young woman who was a rape victim in Saudi Arabia. Although the men responsible were sent to prison the woman is being punished simply for being in the company of an unrelated male. Women are completely dependent on men in this society and the segregation of the sexes is strictly enforced. There's no such thing as a group of young men and women hanging out at the mall or engaging in any social activity that the Western world takes for granted. Saudi Arabia is one of our so called allies in the Middle East but their harsh and repressive treatment of women is a reminder of what society must have been like hundreds of years ago. The laws in Saudi Arabia are based on Islamic principles. It seems to me that the most destructive influence in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations is their own religion.
The Male attitude towards Women seems to be almost bred into the both sexes in those societies. It makes you wonder if the mothers have any influence in raising their sons. You would think that if the mothers thought that viewpoint was wrong, they could influence their sons in some way.
But it continues on in generation after generation. It's a political as well as religious thing.
This is a good example of why a religiously influenced government is not always a good thing. Just like every other kind, it can go to extremes.
It makes you wonder if the mothers have any influence in raising their sons.
Of course they do, in as much as their father's influence over them (along with their husband's) is adhered to... Religion supports culture, and visa versa...
It's sad that even in modern times, regardless of what country one resides in or religious belief they follow, anyone should be treated less than human.
I know there are a lot of people out there that completely disagree with the Bible in that the woman should be submissive to her husband and so forth...however, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that God NEVER intended for women to be treated so brutally or second class.
It's obvious that fanaticism in ANY situation (whether religion or anything else in life) is always going to be a recipe for disaster. I'm a believer and I love God, however, there are those radicals, even in mainstream Christianity (the Phelps family as well as plenty of others that don't get quite as much notoriety) that make the group as a whole look bad.
I should have added! I am so thankful that I live in the United States where we do not have such persecution!
Thanks to all of our brave men and women that FIGHT for our freedoms!
Last edited by kawgpz550; 11-18-2007 at 10:16 PM..
Reason: added content
This is one reason that I am grateful that we have separation of church and state in this country..Imagine...I nalso agree with everything in Kawg's post about submission...
Last edited by Miss Blue; 11-18-2007 at 09:24 PM..
Reason: add content
My only question to the believers.... What if you're wrong and it is the Muslim God?
Honestly? I don't think the Muslim God would approve of this either! It is MAN that has made their laws...not God. God is about love, not hate. I know that is hard to see via the deaths in the Bible, but this is not what God is about.
What if I'm wrong? Then I don't want to be right!!!!!!
Kind of the point I was getting at.... manmade rules and all....
That's pretty much it. It is man that created those laws/rules that is causing such torment.
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Religion supports culture, and visa versa...
