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April 4, 2011

'It Must Stop'

The death of 14-year-old Hena Akhter spotlights concerns the international response to sexual assault.

Elissa Cooper

Last July, Bangladesh’s High Court declared fatwas, a ruling or legal opinion given by an Islamic religious leader, illegal. Investigations and news reports of fatwas invoking violence against women led human rights organizations to submit petitions to the court, which then took action.

Yet the practice is still used in Bangladesh, particularly in rural villages, and not always documented. The first reported case of fatwa since the ruling occurred last November when 40-year-old Sufia Begum was brutally caned for an alleged affair. Although doctors suggested she be taken to another hospital that could better tend to her, her family claimed they could not afford to move her. Begum died in December from her injuries.

0404women.jpg

Violence against women, such as sexual assault, is a global problem; April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the U.S. Bangladesh is just one country where the problem is spelled out on the international scene.

On January 31, 14-year-old Hena Akhter died after a fatwa ordered her to receive 101 lashes. Her crime was that she allegedly had an affair with a married man; her family says the man, a 40-year-old cousin, raped her. The cousin was sentenced to 201 lashes, which he did not undertake.

Bangladeshi authorities condemned Akhter’s fatwa, which occurred over 50 miles away from the capital, Dhaka. “This is against the rules of Islam,” said Haji Abdul Wahab Bepari, chairman of the Naria sub-district. “We don’t have these strict Shari’ah laws in our country. The villagers should have stopped this.”

Authorities were further outraged when it appeared that the fatwa was deliberately hidden. Police officers have been investigated for their report; now, four doctors are facing charges of hiding the cause of Akhter’s death. Their autopsy report ruled that it was a suicide and there were no injuries. A second autopsy was ordered by the court, which found severe injuries on the body and claimed the girl had bled to death. Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik of the High Court said, “We are appalled to see the magnitude of illegality.” Other justices similarly decried the doctors’ actions and their audacity to fabricate the suicide story.

Bangladesh professes to be a moderate Muslim-majority country (of its population of 160 million people, almost 90 percent falls in this category). But it faces the difficult task of changing cultural mentality, as well as enforcing punishment against those who carry out fatwas. Chowdhury called for the ministry of religious affairs to cease funding for the mosques and madrassas (Muslim schools) that order fatwas.

Is that enough? Akhter’s case brings up another problem: the response to sexual assault. Nicholas Kristof blogged, “Let’s hope that the public reaction and punishments are so strong that the word goes out to all of Bangladesh’s villages that such misogynist fatwas are not only immoral but also illegal. And that the crime lies not in being raped, but in raping.”

Akhter’s father said, “The thing that happened to my daughter, the kind of justice she received, it should not happen to anyone else. It must stop.”

In 2002, the World Health Organization released a report on violence and health. On sexual violence, the report collected data from the police, nongovernment organizations, clinics, and survey research, but states: “The relationship between these sources and the global magnitude of the problem of sexual violence may be viewed as corresponding to an iceberg floating in water. . . . The small visible tip represents cases reported to police. . . . But beneath the surface remains a substantial although unquantified component of the problem.” It also acknowledges that “sexual violence has been a neglected area of research. The available data are scanty and fragmented.” The report warns that cultural differences may affect the data too, as some places were not willing to divulge information.

On the RAVE website (Religion and Violence e-Learning), the late Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger wrote, “It is impossible to know the prevalence of abuse in a particular congregation because it is so carefully concealed.” The Christian Coalition Against Domestic Abuse states: “Sadly, religion is NOT a deterrent . . . there is just as much abuse (spousal, child and sexual abuse) in Christian homes as in non-Christian homes.”

Begum and Akhter’s deaths are tragic and unnecessary. Offering international attention towards their stories is a step forward in recognizing and responding to the significant but overlooked issue of violence against women. Do their stories prompt you to make a change in your mindset, your community? What can we learn from these events to apply to our own Christian faith? 


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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey on April 4, 2011 10:18 AM

Comments

Yesterday I was already in a bad, bad mood. This article only made me angry (but the good kind of anger - the Jesus throwing the money changers out kind of anger) but I was too upset to comment. But today I find still, no comments from anyone else. It bothers me greatly that people can go on and on about Beth Moore's hair and yet not have an intelligent conversation about what Christians can do about things like this!

Did you know that in South Africa its not completely uncommon for lesbians to be raped by men. Its to "make" them straight and typically there is no repercussions for the men at all. No matter what you think about homosexuality; these men are sinning and causing great harm and no one is doing anything about it.

Girls are being raped and then killed for adultery?!? We live in an evil, evil world when this kind of injustice stands. Its stories like these that make me grateful that this is NOT my home and I long for the day when justice prevails.

I have gotten involved in the abolitionist movement - specifically the fight against domestic minor sex trafficking. It breaks my heart to know that between 100,000-300,000 girls in the USA _alone_ are being sold for sex. And once again, typically the pimps go free while the girls end up in prison! It was only recently that the Texas state legislature finally wrote a law that common sense should have allowed for. Now any girl under the age of 14 cannot be arrested for prostitution. Yep, you read that right. Used to be a 12 year old could be arrested. Give me a break! And even now a 14 year old can still be arrested for prostitution. Dear God, HELP US!

The thing is, God loves us! He knows the evil that lurks in men's hearts and He has created rules and laws to protects us! People look at the Old Testament as obsolete but its not! A dear friend and I went to Baruch HaShem in Dallas, TX one Saturday and Jeffrey Seif (Zola Levitt Presents) was giving the sermon. He gave it on that week's Torah Portion - which has some of those really strange rules about how if a man sees a woman after a battle she must shave her head, cut her fingernails, etc...etc... Once Seif was finished speaking both my friend and I were in near tears. What, to our modern sensibilities looks like God putting women down was really a God who was forcing men to protect the women around them!(To listen or watch this sermon go to Baruch HaShem's website and look for August 21, 2010 - Moses and the Unloved Women)

Why do we Christians have men ready to speak against women like Beth Moore and not speaking up for the women like Sufia and Hena.

I pray, truly, that before they died that God introduced Himself to these dear women and they knew who He was and accepted His Son as their salvation.

Posted By: Leslie | April 5, 2011 8:22 AM

Leslie - I get what you're saying - it is a little silly how Christians go on and on about someone like Beth Moore - she's bringing people to Christ! What else matters, even if you don't like her, or even if her theology is not perfect? There are worse people than Beth Moore!

However, I think why articles such as this one don't get as many responses is because there is really not much debate about them among Christians - we all agree it's atrocious! When I read articles like these I'm really at a loss for words. I really don't think I have much meaningful to contribute to such a heartbreaking and mind-boggling issue.

I think just because there are a lack of comments doesn't mean readers haven't taken the message to heart. I for one appreciate reading articles like these, but instead of bickering about it, I feel compelled to pray.

Posted By: Nadine | April 5, 2011 8:53 AM

Nadine - I completely agree with you. I know why many don't comment, but that is also exactly my point. Elissa asked us specific questions "Do their stories prompt you to make a change in your mindset, your community? What can we learn from these events to apply to our own Christian faith?" - and after 24 hours there still hadn't been a response. It made my heart hurt. I doubt there is a Christian alive whose heart doesn't break about this - but when we keep silent... they suffer.

Thanks Nadine for not staying silent! Just by commenting - you are contributing. Your voice is being heard. Your prayers are one of the most magnificent and *meaningful* things you can be doing.

Posted By: Leslie | April 5, 2011 9:56 AM

We are out here, and we care. I may be small and feel rather insignificant most days, but God hears my prayers and works through my small actions. God does not miss one tear shed or one cry for help, from any woman, anywhere in this world. Patiently persevering is hard, but has a reward beyond words. God is a God of justice and judgement, that is part of His love for us. He will make all well, the new order of things is coming....the old order will pass away. Pray, speak up on behalf of woman everywhere, get involved with groups that seek justice for such woman (International Justice Mission, among many others) resist temptation to be self-obsessed, as our culture is constantly tempting us (next time you really want those shoes you know you don't need, send the money to an organization instead or buy groceries for a single mom struggling in your church or neighborhood). Lets not love our lives more than Christ. For He is all that is...

Posted By: Deborah Bruner | April 8, 2011 5:17 PM

Just because people didn't comment doesn't mean they don't care. Frankly, a story like this makes me feel completely helpless. What good does it do to just say, "Oh, horrible!" on this blog? Before such senseless misogyny as happened over there, I am speechless. How could people think like this? What can be done to change it?

God have mercy. Make Your kingdom come and Your will be done. Make the oppressor, oppress no more.

Posted By: Kristen | April 8, 2011 10:48 PM

PS. I have a 16-year-old daughter myself, and I can only imagine what those parents are going through. My heart is breaking.

Posted By: Kristen | April 8, 2011 10:50 PM

I just read this article and comments. We can help through the Voice of the Martyrs organization for starters. Also, there are groups all over the U.S. working together to help stop sex trafficking here. The Christianity Today for Women Magazine has this as their project. We can send support to our missionaries who witness these atrocities. And we can PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS or, in other word, PUSH. If we all work together, then we can make change. I believe we are not to sit around saying "Life isn't fair." It's up to us to make it as fair as we can.

Posted By: Bev | April 11, 2011 12:43 AM

This was a heartbreaking story.

Did anyone see 20/20 a couple of weeks ago? I think most would agree that it's misogyny that fuels such fatwas as those that resulted in the deaths of Sufia Begum and Hena Akhter. I see shades of the same misogyny demonstrated in some Christian churches in our own United States:

http://mosaicsynapse.blogspot.com/2011/04/lifting-veil-on-victim-blaming.html

Posted By: Pam | April 18, 2011 8:34 PM

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