Egyptian Girl Beaten And Subjected To Forced Virginity Tests Sues The Army
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 30th, 2011
Good morning!
The second day of elections took place in Egypt yesterday. In the mean time, another brave young girl comes forward and takes courageous and bold actions, suing the Egyptian army.
Egyptian women sues army over forced virginity tests, abuse
Samira Ibrahim, 25, made a seven-hour train ride to Cairo Monday night, to hear the verdict in her case against the Egyptian army.
She sued the army and accuses the miliaty of subjecting her to torture and abuse, including a so-called “virginity test,” while in military detention back in March. Judges had promised to issue a verdict on Tuesday.
Standing on the front steps of a Cairo courthouse, her round face wrapped tightly in a fuchsia headscarf, Ibrahim admitted she was nervous. But there was something that gave her confidence. About a dozen Egyptian friends, activists and lawyers came to court to support her.
A young, bearded Egyptian engineer named Hossam al-Din introduced himself as a Salafi, an ultra-conservative branch of Islam. Al-Din said he met Samira Ibrahim in early February in Tahrir Square. He has gotten to know her since then and he’s here because what happened to Ibrahim could happen to any Egyptian girl – Christian or Muslim, he said – under this military government. That’s not acceptable.
Tuesday in court was a big disappointment. The judge did not make a ruling. Instead the case was postponed until late December. After the announcement, Ibrahim was visibly frustrated.
“I’m not angry,” Ibrahim says. “They’re just stalling, trying to kill my case. But I’m not going to give up.”
Ibrahim, along with 16 other women, were detained during a demonstration on March 9. She was held for four days and during that time, she said, soldiers beat her repeatedly. They subjected her to electric shocks, screamed at her and threatened her. Then, worst of all, they made her strip so a man in a military uniform could check to see if she was a virgin.
She felt like she had been raped.
In June, Ibrahim filed a criminal complaint against the army, but the case has gone nowhere. So she filed suit in civil court, with the help of several human rights groups. They are asking judges to rule on the legality of Ibrahim’s treatment by the military. If they win the case, it could amount to a serious legal blow to Egypt’s military rulers.
Ahmed Hossam, Ibrahim’s lawyer, stood outside the courtroom smoking one cigarette after another. He said this case was incredibly sensitive politically. Hossam is not sure how the judges will rule.
Observers say it is hard to overstate just how much courage it takes for Ibrahim to go through with her case. Ibrahim isn’t the only woman who has been subjected to “virginity tests” while in military detention, but sexual abuse carries a powerful stigma, said Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch.
“Egypt remains a very conservative society and even talking about the fact that these virginity tests took place is very difficult for young women,” Morayef said. “In fact, most of the women who’ve been subjected to these forced virginity tests have not wanted to come forward.”
Ibrahim’s lawyer said the case is probably being held up because the political atmosphere is so sensitive right now, with the recent violence and ongoing parliamentary elections.
“There’s not much to do now,” he said. “Except to wait.”
As for Ibrahim, she won’t wait for anything. Minutes after the disappointing announcement in the courtroom, she joined a small group of demonstrators and together, they marched straight back to Tahrir Square.
To listen to the full report from NPR click here.
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Readers: The abuse of women around the world is just so disturbing to me. It leaves me feeling helpless but I know that feeling doesn’t help the women who endure this kind of life. It is something that must constantly be talked about so that these women are in the forefront of our minds and are not forgotten.
Social Butterfly: Nice to see another familiar name was able to post. I did, thank you. I HOPE you did as well.
Yes we women do need to stand in unity. As you can see from my write today, this abuse is not only a daily thing from men, but the military is not much different from our police force; just a bunch of thugs with guns as well.
I did not read about the added restrictions to Saudi women – thank you for posting. This is insane isn’t it? How many more restrictions can you put on a woman’s life when it is already restricted so much? This just upsets me so much. It really proves that men who are trying to have control really have none since they obviously can not control their sexual urges, that they resort to needing to cover up their woman from head to toe.
Even though we know this is just an excuse to control their women, keep them down – I mean c’mon is it really that tough to keep your dick in your pants? Still if that is their excuse, the message that is put out, to me is loud and clear: They are admitting (even if this is not the real reason for the head-to-toe cover-up), that they have no control over their dicks. That is how I see it – How weak is that? If a man can not control his sexual urges, if he has not mastered his emotions and can’t handle seeing a woman, even viewing her “eyes” without raping or pawing her, so much that he needs to hide what appeals to him, he has got to be the most pathetic thing on this planet. Oh yeah…he is.
Really in my opinion and to answer to your question: Because I think many men just like men better. Period. Control or no control of their dicks, the bottom line is they don’t give a fuck about women. If they did, they wouldn’t be treating them as less than dirt. They would want to revel in their beauty and love and joy, and not hide it, only to disrobe it when they are ready to abuse it.
Lois: I never knew now crazy until I started reading and watching. I can see why a man would want to join such a cult, but a woman?
Anonymous: Another gutless wonder. Can’t handle life so he has to take out his wife as well.
Anything to say…say it here. Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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November 30th, 2011 at 9:42 am
Michelle, kudos on another timely post. When I read about Samira Ibrahim, I just couldn’t believe it. Like you, it makes me sick to think what our sisters in other parts of the world have to deal with. I feel for women like Afaf, who wrote in yesterday. Afaf, I hope you find the safety and peace you are seeking.
Anyone who still doesn’t understand the plight of women in the ME, I urge you to rent to movies: the 2003 Afghani film, Osama and the 2000 Irani film, The Circle. Both movies truly evoke the feeling of being a woman in the ME and the limitations of trying to survive while living under opression. The end of Osama will crush your soul. But the reality you take away from the movie is that there are Hundreds of Thousands of women who have no choice but to live this way, every single day.
Human beings have no respect for life, their own, or anyone/anything else’s, IMHO. Thank the Goddess Aliens exist. Just to know that the human way is not the only way gives hope to me. In my lifetime, I pray for a global social conscienceness that outlaws oppression in all its forms. Its a pipe dream, I know, but I keep putting the energy out there. Thank you Michelle for putting the energy out there too, in your own way – your blog does make a difference.
/SB
November 30th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
SB,
I too yearn for that global social conscience. My pipe dream is a bit further, in that the new conscience understands that there is no need to outlaw oppression, as by means of the evolutionary consciousness, oppression becomes a despised action of the past. To outlaw one thing means to repress another. Can there become a time when the logic of the whole, as a system, extends beyond the weak emotional content of the human specie to which the Ego is quelled, understood, and controlled…
November 30th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
5 Companies You Haven’t Heard Of…Yet
Why They’re Shrewd Investments Now
October 15, 2011
There are plenty of stock fund managers who rely on proven longtime industrial powerhouses for their investment gains. Not Henry Ellenbogen. He spends much of his time searching for upstarts—small, scrappy companies with great profit potential. The fund that Ellenbogen manages—T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund—has been successful in spotting these little giants for more than five decades, becoming an early investor in such successful innovators as Walmart and Starbucks.
Personal asked Ellenbogen why little companies with big long-term potential are especially attractive now and how investors can find them…
COMPOUNDING EARNINGS GROWTH
The stock market is no longer the huge bargain that it was two years ago. And with the economy sputtering along, no one knows how long most companies can keep producing good earnings. So small companies that can continue to grow their earnings faster than the rest of the market are a smart investment now for long-term investors.
Their stocks don’t have enough shares yet to interest large institutional investors. And most professional traders are looking to pick hot companies that can produce explosive short-term returns and then sell them at the right moment. The appeal of the small-cap growth firms I buy is that they reward patient buy-and-hold investors.
Warren Buffett credits the compounding of interest as one of the keys to his wealth. But it’s also the compounding of earnings growth over long periods of time that pays off big. A company whose earnings growth averages 20% a year for 10 years will see earnings rise sixfold over that time, thanks to compounding, and I expect to see its stock price rise by that much as well.
Here are the characteristics my fund looks for that have produced long-term winners…
A LARGE, FRAGMENTED INDUSTRY
I like companies that operate in an industry ripe with opportunities for gaining market share. Any company I pick can supplement its growth by making acquisitions of weaker companies. The bigger it gets, the more efficient its business becomes with economies of scale, so it also can outprice competitors.
A UNIQUE PRODUCT OR SERVICE
I also like it when the company has come up with a product, service or strategy that is unique and visionary enough to change its industry. For example, I invested in Amazon.com in 2007, when I managed the T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund, because I recognized that it was more than just an onlineretailer. To me, Amazon.com wasn’t a bookstore—it was a data company that had a revolutionary ability to track consumer shopping patterns.
Inevitably, competitors will try to mimic the advantage that a visionary company has, so I watch to see if the company develops a strong corporate culture that can enhance and innovate beyond the original vision.
CONSISTENT EARNINGS GROWTH
I look for businesses that I am confident can grow their earnings at above-average rates—15% to 20%—for at least the next 10 years. Consistency is the key. I shy away from red-hot companies with soaring growth that get all the headlines. Those stocks often crash and struggle to recover when growth slows or investors find something more exciting.
Sustainable growth gives me the discipline to hang on to a stock year after year and the patience to understand and gain confidence in the company’s business strategy and management team.
STRONG CASH FLOW
I like companies that generate strong cash flows by establishing contracts with customers that are renewed year after year. The companies don’t need to borrow lots of money to keep growing the business.
Companies that do require a lot of borrowed capital have a hard time maintaining consistent growth rates. They often can’t borrow at favorable interest rates when they need money the most—during downturns in the economy.
MY FAVORITE STOCKS NOW
You may not yet have heard of these relatively small companies—but I predict that you will. Each exhibits most of the traits described above. My favorites now…
Acuity Brands(AYI) is a US market leader in high-tech lighting systems and components for commercial buildings, selling under brand names such as Lithonia, Holophane and Gotham. One of the easiest ways for building owners to save money is to reduce monthly lighting costs, which eat up more than 10% of the overall cost of operations, meaning that Acuity’s energy-efficient products pay for themselves quickly.
Because of sluggishness in new commercial construction, the price of Acuity’s stock is down by more than 25% so far this year. The good news is that the company doesn’t need the real estate industry to pick up in order to keep growing at a double-digit percentage rate. The potential US market overall for retrofitting existing buildings with more efficient lighting will be worth $100 billion. Recent share price: $42.96.
Clean Harbors (CLH) is the largest operator of hazardous-waste disposal and incineration facilities in North America, servicing more than 50,000 customers, including a majority of Fortune 500 firms. Federal law mandates strict and costly regulations under which companies must dispose of their hazardous waste. Clean Harbors already dominates an industry that will see rapid growth in the future. The company owns more than half of all incinerator facilities in the country, and its competitors have shrunk from 20 to five in the past few years. Moreover, no new domestic hazardous landfills or incinerators have been built in about 15 years. Recent share price: $53.88.
Financial Engines (FNGN) provides investment portfolio management services, mostly for employer-sponsored defined-contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)s. The company, founded by Nobel Prize–winning economist William Sharpe, brings a simple but revolutionary concept to the industry—provide corporate employees with the same kind of high-quality, personalized investment advice traditionally available to only large institutions and the affluent. Financial Engines works with about 25% of Fortune 500 companies as well as 401(k) service providers, such as Fidelity Investments. But the potential market for small-investor portfolio management—the average portfolio for a recipient of Financial Engines advice is just $84,000—will be worth tens of billions of dollars in the next decade as employees realize how difficult it is to oversee their own investments. The company’s stock has gone up about 60% since shares were first offered to the public in March 2010. Recent share price: $19.45.
Gartner. (IT). One of the greatest challenges in running a business nowadays is knowing how to implement the right information technology, figuring out the kinds of new computer hardware, software and communications you need to make your workers more efficient, expand into new markets and better service existing customers. Gartner provides research and consulting services about trends in information technology and helps companies make smart purchasing decisions.
Gartner already has 60,000 clients in 80 countries ranging from small businesses to major corporations and government agencies. And once Gartner spends money to compile proprietary data, it can sell that data again and again to many different clients. In the next 10 years, I expect Gartner’s earnings to grow by 20% annually. Recent share price: $36.04.
Global Payments (GPN) is a payment-processing company that allows merchants to accept debit and credit cards. While many firms are benefiting from the trend of credit cards replacing cash and checks around the world, Global Payments has become a leading player in an enormous underserved niche—small and midsized merchants who process less than $300,000 a year in debit and credit card transactions.
Global has been able to expand revenues at an 18% annual growth rate over the past 10 years, with especially strong growth in emerging-market regions such as China and Russia. This is one of the rare small-cap companies with true global potential. Foreign accounts were responsible for nearly half of the company’s revenues last year. Recent share price: $41.35.
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Henry Ellenbogen, a vice president at T. Rowe Price Group, based in Baltimore, and manager of the $7.6 billion T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund (PRNHX). The fund’s 10-year annualized return of 7.9% ranks in the top 5% of its small-cap growth fund category, according to Morningstar, Inc. Previously, Ellenbogen was manager of the T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund. http://www.TRowePrice.com
November 30th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Michelle,
I, too live in Egypt. It is only a little better than the worst place in the Middle East for women. I hate arab men. They are nasty little men that the world wouldn’t miss if they all fell of the face of the planet.
November 30th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Remember when the leaked RNC memo last year talked about how they thought their supporters were suckers who would vote based on fear (and they were right)?
November 30th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Newt posits a false impression, that now that he is a candidate he has to know what he is talking about. The fact is that Newt established the GOP credo that it is all right to lie if it advances a GOP goal.
This has resulted in GOPers lying 24/7 about everything. Facts not withstanding. Ergo no need whatsoever to know what you are talking about., ever.
November 30th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
My question is why or who in America finds the man who was forced to leave their Congress because he stole money a viable Presidential candidate.
He accepted a $300,000 fine to avoid going to jail. But for some he is still good enough to be President. What are their standards? It seems that one can only fall below their standards if you are an OTW.
December 1st, 2011 at 3:20 am
Theses articles while they are about women of the Middle East and those subjected to the brutal cult called islam elsewhere on the planet, let’s not forget that men will do to women whatever they can get away with where ever they are.
The present legislation being considered my mostly men on Guam is a typical example. Rather than making an effort to stop prostitution, they are considering making it legal.
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Should prostitution be legalized on Guam?
Posted: Nov 30, 2011 9:59 PM PST
Updated: Dec 01, 2011 12:24 AM PST
Video Gallery
Leaders debate possibly legalizing prostitution
2:41
by Nick Delgado
Guam – Legalizing prostitution in Guam is an idea brought to the table during a public hearing this morning on legislation aiming to regulate legitimate massage therapy businesses.
It’s no secret it’s been happening locally for years, and according to Public Health director Jim Gillan, it’s up to the Legislature to do something about it.
Gillan said, “I’m just saying recognize what’s going on what do you want to do about it? if nothing then let’s just pretend it’s not there.”
Senator Aline Yamashita then noted, “I don’t think we’re going to pretend I think we’re really going to look at the issue.”
Although Bill 351 aims to separate and regulate the legitimate businesses where massage therapy is practiced – Gillan believes that the legislation isn’t going to resolve the illicit activity in so-called massage parlors.
Senator Tom Ada said, “We’ve all been tiptoeing around like eggshells here that really while on the one hand I guess we’re trying to regulate the legit, but I guess we’re really all concerned about the questionable sexual activities, prostitution right?
“And you Mr. Gillan, you indicated that question needs to be addressed by the people on this side of the table.
And are you suggesting then that maybe the issue we should be looking at is that should legalize proposition so that then the government can go in an regulate that industry.
It’s interesting to point out that although prostitution is illegal in Guam, when applying for a health certificate for massage therapy there’s two separate applications: one that requires an STD test, and the other that doesn’t.
Public Health Environmental Division Administrator Tom Nadeau says the reason being is because of outcry from legitimate massage therapists who felt they shouldn’t have to take an STD test.
Nadeau made those comments about the applications after a question from Senator Tony Ada, who recommended all applicants take an std test.
In 2009 KUAM News conducted a hidden camera investigation, revealing what really happens inside several so-called massage parlors. Our cameras uncovered sex for sale.
For the time being, the public has ten days to submit testimony on the legislation to the Legislature.
==================================
Guam is not a place to make prostitution legal because it is in the middle of an environment that places little value on the female life. Females of all ages are only pieces of meat to be bartered for their potential sexual pleasure to men.
Legalizing prostitution under those circumstances would simply encourage the sexual exploitation of women by providing a safe haven for the men who sell the end product in their “massage” parlors.
The men in our legislature are eying the potential profit for Guam’s coffers if they tax the crime. They see the influx of 5,000 marines as a potential gold mine. So their greed would turn Guam into the kind of cesspool for Guam white men did to the Philippines.
Women of Guam should not allow their men to follow the white man’s example and turn Guam into one big brothel for their sexual pleasure.
Hafa Adai
Anna
December 1st, 2011 at 3:25 am
I wish to express my condolences to the family of Calvin Pereda who died while serving in Afghanistan.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Guam soldier dies in Afghanistan
Posted: Nov 13, 2011 2:54 PM PST
Updated: Nov 13, 2011 2:54 PM PST
by Sabrina Salas Matanane
Guam – KUAM News has confirmed an Army Soldier originally from Guam died while serving in Afghanistan. According to family members Calvin Pereda grew up in Guam but relocated off island with his family.
He graduated high school off island and joined the Army. His family will be returning to Guam for his rosary and funeral.
They are from the village of Yigo.
==========================
Hafa Adai
Anna
December 1st, 2011 at 4:21 am
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December 1st, 2011 at 6:24 am
There will be no more humiliating airport screening checks for members of the military returning from war in the Middle East under new legislation that passed the House Tuesday.
The bill passed 404-0 and requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to create an expedited system within six months for all members of the U.S. armed forces as well as their families traveling with them on official orders.
“With all the contention and political gridlock we’ve witnessed over the past several months, what’s most important is that we come together to agree where we can,” said Rep. Chip Cravaack (R. -Minn.), who authored the bill.
“In respect to our men and women in uniform and in the best interest of our national security, this bi-partisan initiative is the least we could do for our military personnel and their families traveling our nation’s airports while serving our country. I urge the Senate
to quickly take action,” Cravaack said.
The new protocols include screening guidelines for military uniforms and combat boots, with the goal to reduce wait times and other inconveniences.
The need for new procedures first came to light several years ago when 200 Marines and soldiers were detained at the Oakland International Airport and denied access to the passenger terminal during a layover from Iraq to the troops’ home base in Hawaii.
Although that layover on Sept. 27, 2007, was intended as the final stop for fuel and food, the troops were actually denied access to the airport for food and the indoor bathroom facilities.
Members of the armed forces and their families comprise a low-risk population that is ideally suited for an expedited security screening process, Cravaack said. The U.S. Travel Association also endorses the bill.
Rep. Peter King (R. –N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that expediting the screening of military members would enable TSA screeners to focus on higher-risk travelers.
“Not only would such screening make official travel easier for the men and women serving our country, it would be an important move toward a more risk-based approach to aviation security – something I have long advocated,” King said.
Click here to read more about the legislation.
—Audrey Hudson
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Michelle:
If we as women don’t make our positions known, the men will most certainly legalize prostitution on the island. And that bastion of pedophiles the catholic church will not make a poop about it.
But let women want to have access at safe abortions and those butt rustlers will be out in force telling the dumber members of our sex that they will rot in hell if they stop producing butts to molest for the catholic church.
Anna