Afghan Woman Raped: SHE Goes To Jail
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 23rd, 2011
Doug: I just noticed that you beat me to it. We are running the same thoughts this morning. What you posted this morning was going to be my topic for today. And considering it is such an important topic, it is very much well worth me reposting. Enough can not be said about women that are subjected to this kind of abuse.
Readers: So I was just informed that there is an update to this story. If you haven’t already read what Doug posted, please make sure that you click over to the article first, and then read this:
Jailed Afghan rape victim has sentence reduced, remains in jail
(If video doesn’t work, click here to watch)
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) – Afghan prosecutors announced Wednesday that a young rape victim, jailed for adultery after reporting the crime and pushed into marrying her attacker, would have her sentence reduced from twelve to three years. The prosecutor said she would, for now, remain in jail — with her child — for not reporting her attack fast enough.
In a remarkable case that is all too common in Afghanistan but has drawn international attention, 21-year-old Gulnaz was attacked by a relative two years ago, but sentenced to 12 years in jail for adultery.
She has since given birth to a girl from the attack. Because of the dishonor of sex outside of wedlock, she had been given the choice of marrying her attacker to get out of jail and legitimize her infant daughter in the eyes of Afghanistan’s conservative society.
The child is imprisoned with her at Badambagh Prison on the outskirts of Kabul.
Gulnaz says she at first tried to hide the attack against her because she could be killed for bringing shame on her community. Only her pregnancy exposed the attack and began criminal investigations that led to her conviction for adultery.
On Wednesday a spokesman for the Afghan attorney general said her sentence had been reduced by another court hearing to three years and that the main remaining charge against her was not reporting her attack early enough. A lawyer for Gulnaz, Kim Motley, said her client was only on Tuesday made aware of the reduced sentence and there had been no official notification of it.
The attorney general spokesman, Rahmatullah Nazari, said their investigation had concluded there was no rape, but instead sex outside of wedlock, resulting in both the male attacker and Gulnaz being convicted of adultery.
“Gulnaz claims that she has been raped. But because she reported the crime four months later, we couldn’t find any evidence [of an attack],” Nazari said. “She was convicted for not reporting a crime on time.”
Gulnaz’s attacker denied having sex with her. He told CNN he was serving jail time because he had been accused of rape. His conviction records show he is in jail for “zina”, a Dari word that directly translates as “adultery.” Human rights workers note that rape cases are often handled as adultery in Afghanistan’s court system.
The spokesman for the prosecutor added, however, that Gulnaz might soon receive a presidential pardon.
“There is a strong possibility that she would be pardoned under a presidential decree in the upcoming important dates like Prophet’s birthday or Afghan new year,” said Nazari.
Nazari said the Afghan prosecutor’s investigation had concluded that Gulnaz and her attacker had had consensual sex several times. Months later, when it emerged she was pregnant he said, their families met to try and settle the issue through a financial payment. When those discussions broke down, Nazari said, the accusation of rape was made.
The courts ultimately found both parties guilty of adultery, Gulnaz receiving two years, and her attacker seven. A later court ruling then increased her sentence to twelve years. A third court hearing, which happened in the past month but about which Gulnaz heard little until Tuesday, decided that she should serve a total of three years — not for adultery but instead for failing to report a crime quickly enough.
Throughout her interview with CNN, Gulnaz was emotional but consistent and clear in telling her story of a single incident of rape by one attacker, the husband of her cousin, when her mother left her alone to make a hospital visit.
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Readers: You read the story. I don’t need to go into the details. All I can say is that EVERYTHING about this story is sickening. I wish that I could say that this is an isolated circumstance, but it is not. Hundreds of women, and probably more, are faced with this illogical, insane male reasoning when it comes to a woman being raped.
And with respect to the EU afraid that his might bring more harm to women. More harm? – please…these women endure the worst that can happen – they are in fear of being brutally killed by their families “out of shame” . What could be worse? No…the best thing that can happen for these women is for everyone to find out. This type of atrocious abuse needs to be stopped, and the only way to do that is for it to be widely known that this is actually happening to women…many women, around the world.
Mr Ambassador: If you are truly that concerned about the situation of the women, then you’ll do what it takes to have it be in the public eye as often as possible. Not showing the film doesn’t take away the fact that it is happening. Screw your political relations. This is about humanity and the well-being of women.
So…the update: Gulnaz’s sentence got reduced from 12 years in jail to 3. Not good enough. She should never be in prison in the first place. But hey she deserves to be in prison right? She didn’t report her attacker fast enough. Hmm..Let’s see, what choice did she have? Risk being killed by her family ”out of shame”, or face a jail sentence? What would you do when faced with the worse of two evils?
And don’t you just love the way countries like this say they are they way they are because they are a “conservative society”. What a bunch of BS. Just tell it like it really is: “We are like this so that we can control and abuse our women any way we see fit.”. That’s the sickening truth.
I could go on and on and on…Your turn – the blog is now open ( I HOPE) Blog me.
Peace and Love….
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 23rd, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Michelle:
It is difficult to believe that this barbarian control and punishment of Women exists anywhere on this planet in the present time.
The problem is how can this inhuman behavior exist in so many countries and societies throughout the world and how can it be changed?
This poor Woman, Gulnaz is a victim of rape, then she gives birth to the baby while in prison and is jailed because she was afraid of her life for reporting the rape in the first place because she could either be killed by the males of her own family or the men of their ridiculous archaic unjust justice system which does not offer justice to Women in any way.
These Women are the Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Wives of Muslim Men yet they are treated worse than any of their livestock or pets. What the hell is wrong with their entire culture?
How has their religion turned into such an ugly, one-sided and unjust way of life which is practiced by billions around the world?
I am ashamed to be a member of the same sex which is capable of such sick behavior. I find it difficult to believe that the writings of the Koran were intended to become this twisted by Men with the passage of time.
Or perhaps it was meant for it to be exactly this way — so Men could have absolute control and abuse of Women both mentally and physically.
HOWIE
November 23rd, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Hi Michelle and everyone.
I’m glad your blog today is about Gulnaz. Afghanistan is probably one of the worst places on the planet to be a woman today. Have you read The Dressmaker of Khair Khana? It’s a book on surviving, having to make a living as a woman under Taliban rule. Today, there are many, many older widows begging in the streets because of that society’s cultural belief system. Young women too, like Gulnaz who have been “quote unquote shamed” because of the men’s ass-backwards lifestyle. It really pisses me off. In Gulnaz’s case, she is very fortunate she wasn’t stoned to death instead of being given a jail sentence. It’s a tremendously sick society. Let’s us not forget that slavery is accepted in the Middle East.
There’s another women in the Middle East getting attention right now I was wondering if you’d be blogging about. Her name is Aliaa Maghda Elmahdy, a 20 year old self-described “secular liberal feminist vegetarian individualist Egyptian,” who has caused a stir because of naked pictures of herself she posted on her blog “A Rebel’s Diary.”
She posted the pictures as “screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy.”
A Rebel’s Diary” currently features a black and white photo of Elmahdy completely nude except for stockings. The only color in the portrait is her red bow and red slippers. “I took my nude photo myself in my parents’ home,” The blog offers numerous photos and artistic renderings of naked women and some men, a few engaged in sexual activity.
Continuing to scroll down the page, Elmahdy repeats her initial nude pose, this time covering her genitals, eyes and mouth with a yellow bar. “The yellow rectangles on my eyes, mouth and sex organ resemble the censoring of our knowledge, expression and sexuality,” she wrote.
She’s gotten a lot of controversy among both sides of her supports and critics. Elections are coming up and people are talking about this. Some are concerned with her 2 million hits, the country will be persuaded to vote more conservatively, which is against her stated goal.
Regardless of upcoming elections, women have said she shines a light on the foolishness of a culture lost in times past. Emily Esfahani Smith who translated with Elmahdy for her newspaper article, said: “Is she simply an exhibitionist? Perhaps. But even if she is, Egypt — both its male and female halves — will be better off with more bold and courageous women like Mahdy than under the rule of morbid chador fetishists,”
“As a young woman who grew up in an open-minded Muslim household,” Smith added, “I delight in Mahdy’s complete irreverence toward the prudish Islamists who have corrupted Islam for decades and who are now trying to commandeer a revolution in Egypt, and the Arab world at large, that began as a call to freedom.”
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Elmahdy has guts. I have hope for the young people in the Middle East. They are not their grandparent’s generation; perhaps they can turn their political system around much like Americans need to do. Here’s the link to The Rebel’s Diary: (http://arebelsdiary.blogspot.com/2011/10/nude-art.html?zx=b786aca240401663)
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BTW: I read your blog this morning, and then googled the story about elmahdy I had read a few days ago, from the same window. Google search brought up the story of the group of Israeli women who posed nude in solidarity with Elmahdy. I clicked on that article to get Elmahdy’s name. I tried to go back to your page from the same window and then I couldn’t connect – error establishing database message came up. over and over. I NEVER have problems getting onto your page, unlike other reports here. Once I opened a new window, I got right in. So obviously my computer is tracking my activity and depending how I move around, you are definitely blocked on either women’s rights or the Middle East or both. Just thought I would share that. I think I’ll call Google Gaggle from here on out.
/SB
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Mindfulness Makes More of Everyday Life
Do you rush through chores, distracting yourself by thinking about other things?
What if you took a different approach to a chore such as washing the dishes?
What if you slowed down and immersed yourself in the sensory experience of being at the sink? Many people are surprised to discover that they can enrich their lives by becoming more mindful throughout the day.
Mindfulness is good for our health because it relaxes us and helps to reduce stress.
To transform even the most mundane chore like dishwashing into a more meaningful experience, our editors spoke with Ronald Alexander, PhD, a clinical psychotherapist who is executive director of the OpenMind Training Institute in Santa Monica, California, and author of Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose & Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss & Change (New Harbinger, http://www.RonaldAlexander.com).
Here is what you need to know…
Focus on what you’re doing.Taking dishwashing as an example, use your senses. Notice how heavy each pot feels… how the water feels on your skin.
Breathe deeply while you work. Look on the kitchen countertop, and take pleasure in the small things around you—a vase that you picked out on a trip or a spice that you especially like.
Feel curious, feel alive. Being engaged in what you’re doing with all your senses makes any task seem less tedious. You are open to what’s around you… you feel curious… and you feel alive.
Free your mind from stressful thoughts. When you heighten your senses in this way, you may find yourself in a state of pleasant concentration, which is called being “in the flow.”
In this mind-set, it is difficult to have unpleasant thoughts. This kind of “awareness” also enhances your creativity and intuition. The dishes are clean—and you feel better for having washed them.
Ronald Alexander, PhD, a clinical psychotherapist and director of the OpenMind Training Institute, Santa Monica, California. He is author of Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose & Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss & Change (New Harbinger).
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Social Butterfly the same thing happened to me when I was surfing. I couldn’t get back to Michelle’s blog but I wasn’t smart enough to figure out I was being tracked and Michelle’s blog was being blocked.
Thanks for the information.
Dehlia
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Better Password Protection
The most commonly used passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) for computers, E-mail accounts, bank accounts and other password-protected information are password…
123456… qwerty… abc123… letmein…and the user’s first name.
There is no foolproof way to create a secure password, but the safest ones meet the following criteria: they contain eight or more characters…
combine parts of two unusual words… mix both upper- and lower-case letters with symbols and numbers… and/or combine foreign and English words.
Sid Kirchheimer, investigative reporter, Audubon, Pennsylvania, and author of Scam-Proof Your Life (Sterling).
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:01 pm
The Middle East is a terrible place to be if you are female. We are nothing but breeding animals for the beasts calling themselves men.
We are herded like cattle until some man is ready to marry us and breed. All to often like the sheep herders some of us are selected for their personal sexual pleasure.
We are raped until we become pregnant or the rapist is discovered. Then he pays and we are killed because we are expendable. Like a horse with a broken leg, we are murder and tossed aside as if we never existed.
Indeed women do exist in the Middle East until a man chooses her to breed with in marriage. Then she becomes little more than a extension of his penis.
I wish Madaline would kill the all.
Afsaneh
November 24th, 2011 at 8:02 am
Michelle, if you can’t I hope one of those republicans will chime in an tell why anyone would support a candidate that says he’s for large corporate and estate tax cuts. Here’s some of Huff Post’s coverage.
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If you’re looking for some extra spending money, don’t ask Mitt Romney.
The GOP candidate– who once had a hard time finding a bill in his wallet that wasn’t a $100– told an audience that “I’m not looking to put money in people’s pockets.”
Romney’s claim came in the middle of discussion of his economic plan at a campaign stop in Iowa. After skipping the Iowa Straw Poll this summer, he is taking a more aggressive approach to the state now that its primary is looming.
Romney has touted his economic policies as beneficial to the middle class. Pointing out that they involve large corporate and estate tax cuts, one audience member asked, “It doesn’t put any money in my pocket…how will this help the middle class?”
“I’m not looking to put money in people’s pockets,” the GOP hopeful replied. “That’s the other party.”
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Please someone tell me why anyone in the middle class would support this Greedy One Percent man? He’s telling you from his own mouth that If you want money in your pocket that’s the other party.
I want money in my pocket, so this asshole can get out of my face.
Lois
November 24th, 2011 at 8:07 am
Howie:
Thanks for your support. If more american men felt the way you do, perhaps they would pressure their governments not to trade with nations that subject us to the level of breed animals.
Amani
November 24th, 2011 at 8:12 am
Lois, Ole Mitt is looking to put money into out pockets because he is looking to load up the pockets of the corporations at the expense of the middle class. We are the ones he will be TAKING money out of so his policies can fill the pockets of he Greedy One Percent which he is a member of.
Daniel
November 24th, 2011 at 8:13 am
“I’m not looking to put money in people’s pockets,”
He’s only PARTIALLY lying. I’m positive he doesn’t want to put money in the pockets of the middle class. He’ll be taking money OUT of their pockets to pay for the mega-money he’s planning to put into the pockets of the wealthy.
AND guess what, Romney is wealthy. A certified member of the 1% – he’ll protect every penny in their pockets to the last penny in the pockets of everyone else.
Happy Thanksgiving – one thing I’m thankful for is that Mitt Romney isn’t the President.
November 24th, 2011 at 8:19 am
I can hardly believe it. A republican who told the truth. “I’m not looking to put money in people’s pockets,”
Actually he is but you have to be already rich to benefit from his planned Corporate and Estate tax cuts.
Wilma
November 24th, 2011 at 8:42 am
I’ll leave you with 2 things before I go NOT eat turkey, yes, I’m being a contrarian and I’m going to practice an attitude of gratitude while giving a pardon to a large bird ; ) is that un-American?
#1 – not only is natural vitey D vitally important in disease prevention, but one powerful water soluble overlooked (bc it cannot be patented and therefore will not make a pharma co any money) anti-oxidant is vite C in large doses, just like vitey D, the RDI is very low, but the real requirement is 200x’s higher. 15,000 units of powdered vite C (absorbic acid) will prevent major diseases and prevent common colds as well, try it if you’ve got joint pain, you’ll feel noticeable change in 3-4 days, dissolve 2.5grams of absorbic acid powder in water every 2-3 hours, I know this is a pain but I just carry a bag of it and a spoon and I have alerts programmed into my phone to remind me to dose up.
#2 – check out ’8 minute workouts’ on youtube, this man is easy to look at and the belly, arm and leg workouts are a great addition to mix up your usual workouts, he does 30 seconds of each exercise to keep your body from adapting. If you do an 8 min arms, an 8 minute ab and an 8 minute interval cardio (every 45 seconds, go as fast as you can, alternate with lower speed for 45 seconds) if you can do that for longer than 8 minutes all the better, I do 21. but 8+8+8=24 minutes or my version 8+8+21=37 minutes, you can do this…!
…and then eat all the turkey you want bc your body will be a calorie burning machine ; ) or eat all your heart and belly desires and start tomorrow!
& the GOP had better rethink their candidates, this motley crew cannot be taken seriously, Mitt Romney is Mormon, won’t ever go over in the bible belt I don’t care how good lookin’ or charismatic he is, Rick Perry is a ditz as is Bachman, Herman Cain Cain’t – so they better break out someone else…preferably someone who can answer a question regarding current events without going into overload…
Oh, one more thing: what’s the best example of ‘dangerous’ hypnosis? Religion. Think about it, and all religions have someone who wears special clothing, an ‘authority’, the book or doctrine (I’m not saying it – God, Jehovah or Allah said it) and all the music, chanting, incense, high ceilings, etc..all add to the trancing…that’s right…hypnosis won’t be dangerous in my hands though it is already dangerous in so many hands already.
Happy Turkey Day (or whatever you choose to replace that bird with)!
Sending you ‘Pluvness’ (peace, love and happiness), Zen Lill