Held captive by their half-brother for 10 years

[ejbr]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

A Saudi rights organisation has freed two women held captive by their half-brother in a small room in their parents' home for 10 years, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Saudi National Association for Human Rights said it discovered the two women in their early 20s after receiving an anonymous tip, the Saudi newspaper Okaz reported.

The two women were immediately hospitalised after their liberation from the house located in the southern city of Jazan.

"The two girls are in a very bad physical and psychological condition. They need utmost care and total rehabilitation," Dr Ahmad Yehia, a regional supervisor at the rights organisation told Okaz.


Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

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What the fuck is wrong with people?!

[emilyg]

1. Sick bastards.

[silverojo]

2. It's their "culture" and "religion"

You know, women are dogs to be mistreated.

[booley]

3. so whats' the excuse for all the non-muslims that have done this?

Since I seem to recall that quite a few non arabs/non muslims have also done similar?

And what about those billion plus Muslims that don't do this sort of thing?

maybe a-holes just use culture and religion as an excuse to do what they want to do anyway?

[toopers]

5. Which culture does not allow women to drive?

Which culture requires women to wear clothing that covers 99% of their body?
Which culture punishes the woman who was raped?
Which culture would not allow the school girls to leave a burning building because they were not properly dressed?

I think you know the answer!

[booley]

9. Take a pick

A lot of women in Jaurez would probably happily tell you about how dangerous it is to be a women in their CATHOLIC country.

And it wasn't that long ago that our own culture went bat shit over a women showing leg or

And what about Turkey? Hardly a beacon of humn rights but yet they don't' do what you describe.

So are we supposed to separate the good Muslims/arabs/ from the bad ones? OR shoudl we just kill them all? (and alas, that isn't hyperbole. More then once I was told that arab/muslim treatment of women was justification to bomb a arab country.. thus killing the very women that were being oppressed. So how do I know you aren't doing the same thing when you sound so similar?)

And again what about all those other cultures? OR did you forget wife burning India? and Genital Mutilation in Africa and the Rape camps of the Sebs? and about a hundred other examples.

Again as I pointed out, what happened in the OP has also been done by non-arabs/non muslims. So what's their excuse? IF collective guilt is reasonable and it must be the culture, then why aren't you condemning Austria? Maybe there's something in their culture that made that guy hold that women hostage for years.

Sorry but you can't divide the world into "Good" and"bad Cultures/groups. No culture is without blood on it's hands.

[Cleita]

12. It seems like it's the lack of laws that protect women in those countries

that's the problem. A hundred years ago in this country, women were pretty much subjected to their men as well. Even fifty years ago I knew women who were abused in their marriage who endured it because there wasn't a whole lot out there to protect them from abuse. Somehow law enforcement often took the abusers side because they believed somehow the woman was asking for it.

[toopers]

13. But most cultures have progressed beyond the dark ages . . .

and most cultures did so without prompting from the rest of the world. However, the muslim culture seems to be fighting hard to remain the same, and it has the rest of the world trying to pull them forward. Unfortunately, Turkey, a muslim nation, has probably progressed the farthest.

The incident in Austria is an isolated one. Many parts of Africa are dominated by the muslim religion, probably the ones that condone genital mutilation. There are muslims in India -- probably the ones that condone wife burning.

I agree that no culture is without blood on its hands. However, certain cultures are trying hard to move forward while other cultures are fighting tooth and nail to move in the opposite direction. And I never stated that I condoned bombing these cultures.

[booley]

14. sorry..dupe

[booley]

15. hardly

"...and most cultures did so without prompting from the rest of the world. "

Yes we have progressed but with jumps and starts and with lots of influence from around the world.

American suffregettes owe a debt to thier British peers and vice versa, for instance

And Turkey progressed in large part because of outside influence. To deny that is to display a shocking amount of ignorance about the country.

But that influence can have unintended consequences.

Western powers have tried to influence countries in the middle east but not becuase they wanted to make the lives of the people there better. Countries like the US and UK and France have exploited the middle east and in so doing strengthened the very traditionalist forces they thought they could "civilize" out of existence.

Take Iran for instance. Women were more westernenized there under the Shah (from our cultural POV that could be seen as less oppressed) BUT the Shah was also torturing and disappearing people. And when the people rose up against the Shah and by extension the US, they not only rejected what they saw as US colonisation but all that they saw as part of that. That includes women wearing make up.

Not to mention we westerners often see the Middle east through a prism of our own culture. Again in Iran, women played a large role in the Shah's over throw. They arent' quite as powerless as many in this country believe. I have also heard people here claim the head scarf is oppression but many Muslim women think just the opposite.

Another good example is Iraq where women were actually among the best educated in the middle east. Not to say that Iraq was not a dictatorship. However then came the US occupation and the Iraqi people started to resist. Unfortunately one of the ways some saw to resist was to advocate ultra conservative islam.

Yes, some practices are abhorrent. Like Honor killings. But a poll I saw put support among muslims for that at 60/40. Yeah, 60 % is way to much support. But what about that 40%? Do we lump the Muslims/arabs who dont' support honor killings in with the rest who do as if there is no controversy with in that community? Are we to arbitrarily put the Muslims who dont' support Honor killings out side the Muslim "culture"? Why? Because it fits someone's prejudices of what a Muslim is?

Hell look at the OP. The women were rescued by A SAUDI human rights group. After a tip provided undoubtidly by a SAUDI ARABIAN and the brother had his sisters taken out of his custody with the consent of the SAUDI authorities. All of these people are part of the same culture.

And again , what about non-muslims/non arabs that use their "traditions" as an excuse to treat women poorly? Africa is not just a "Muslim" continent. Christianity also has a big influence. It's in the Christian areas that one is most likely to find "Witch hunters" who scapegoat powerless women to give themselves power. Witch hunting is a big problem in Africa, causing the death or mutilation of a number of women. And it's Christians who are doing it. Witch hunting sure sounds like something from the "dark ages" to me.

As for wife burning in India, NO IT IS NOT A MUSLIM PRACTICE. It's originally Hindu and predates Islam. It has occured in Pakistan but remember Pakistan used to part of India and shares a lot of the same culture (since religion is only part of a culture) Genital mutilation also predates Islam by Millennia and was banned on religious (i.e. Islamic) grounds in Egypt..

There are big problems I have with your posts here.

One, you are fast and loos ewith facts. Not only do you not seem to care what the facts are but you assume that your prejudices are facts, that if something bad has occured then Islam must somehow be to blame.

And two you have a clear double standard. Not only do you seem to not give equal outrage over female oppression among non-muslims but you twist it so somehow Muslims are resposnible even for things others do.

Something is bad, Islam is bad therefore Islam must have something to do with it.

There's a difference between moral outrage over something bad and just using that to justify one's bigotry.

[PassingFair]

17. But you CAN tack the word "worse" onto them.

All of the examples you cite are WORSE
for women than the democratic/socialist
west.

[Taverner]

6. Yes

If you don't believe him, read the Koran. It's all there.

It's also in the Bible too - especially, but not limited to the Old Testament.

Some people have ethics despite their bloodthirsty religion

[Spouting Horn]

7. All Cultures are Equal

and Diversity is our Strength.

:eyes:

[booley]

10. Yes and No

Cultures may be equal... but not al cultural practices are equal or good.

But I get so sick of the rant that some cultures are evil, so by extension anybody from that culture is also evil which inevitably leads to the idea that since they are all evil, it's ok to do any evil thing to them.

It's bigotry disguised as moral outrage.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Well, apparently, that particular act isn't, since the police acted.

Looks like even Saudi Arabia has limits.

[doodadem]

4. What the hell is wrong with the parents????

They ALLOWED this to happen in their home, and did nothing?

[ejbr]

8. The parents died. It was just the half brother. n/t

[Sultana]

11. That's so fucked up

Saudi Arabia is crazy, case and point read the #5 story on the link. :crazy:

[marshall]

18. I didn't think this sort of thing was illegal

Don't males have control over whether their female relatives come and go in public? Aren't they supposed to be accompanied by a male relative at all times?

[zelta gaisma]

19. 1st thought in my head was ... ummmm WHY?! did he do that... what was he thinking?! *WAS* he?

I don't get it.

[hyphenate]

20. Cruelty and repression

are without culture. It happens everywhere, all the time, and to everyone. It is not limited to Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, communists, conservatives, liberals, or any denomination, color, race, creed or gender.

It happens. It's built right into our genes--we are not that far off from our most distant ancestors, clubbing each other with a wooden club. If it weren't for that savagery, though, we might not have survived this far: no one can deny that for some reason, we progress faster when we are acting our worst toward each other. Still survival of the fittest? Perhaps. But there comes a time when we reach a crossroad, and our minds see and imagine more peace while our instincts still pull us toward another horrible conflict. We try to overcome our desire for violence, but we're still bound by rules that keep us clinging to old ways of death and destruction.

Survival in today's world is still gained by domination and force. It's not going to stop until the human race is dead, period. We kill. We believe we kill for a reason, try to rationalize our choices, but when all is said and done, there is someone standing, and someone not breathing.

There is much to change, but so few to understand, few to comprehend our existence. We can map the human genome, but until the cruelty gene is eradicated, we will always be incapable of evolving beyond our current state of mind.

There is much to be ashamed of in our history, but we still thrive on intense emotion, for bad or good. For every living thing tortured, maimed and killed, there is a Michelangelo, a Shakespeare, a Beethoven. Without the sorrow, there is no joy; without the pain, there is no pleasure.

We are dual beings, living in a world of Heaven and of Hell. We aspire to beauty, but we fall to the ugliness that made our world, our civilization.

It is not one sole group that harms and hinders, it is merely a single aspect of who we are. The main difference is how some will never make that transition from the imagination to the factual, but for others, there is only a threshold to cross to do such horror.

Repression of another, of imprisoning someone weaker than ourselves is not only fact, but common. It is a better person who can think, but not act on the impulses that bring about such calamity. If we were in the situation ourselves, there is always the possibility that we would act similarly, even if we can't visualize it. We're always quick to condemn someone else who has done something we don't approve of, but until we are in their place, we cannot and should not judge them without at least giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Under the skin, we are all the same: none of us has green blood, four eyes or six arms--we like to think we are better than those who bring harm to another, but we're not.

[terisan]

21. Thanks for this post. Cultural and Legalized Torture and Oppression of Women is Wrong.

and the fact that many self-identified liberal and progressive Americans don't address it as the massive human rights issue it is, is a disgrace.

Too many people want to buy that Saudi oil and turn their backs on human rights for women---who are generally a majority of the population of any given country.