Gender-based violence ‘wielded mercilessly’ in Muslim countries. Christian women vulnerable due to profound lack of equality, claims new report.
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| Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (WWM) |
By Hélène Fisher
(WORLD
WATCH MONITOR, June 13, 2013) The conclusion of a new report by
the US Hudson Institute researcher Lela Gilbert is clear and
unequivocal: gender-based violence plays a key strategic role in the
plans of those who wish to eradicate Christians and Christian belief
from Muslim lands.
Gender-Based
Violence as an expression of Christian Persecution in Muslim Lands,
written
for the World
Watch List,
describes how a profound lack of equality between men and women in
Muslim countries means that all women in these societies are
structurally vulnerable to systematic violence and discrimination in
their daily lives. A
parallel review of statistics on Christian persecution in these lands
is made in order to infer a picture of the plight of Christian women
in Muslim lands.
The
resulting image is striking: the combined status of being both
Christian and female significantly increases the likelihood of
experiencing aggression and repression in society and at home.
Gilbert focuses on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt in her
disclosure of the appalling legal and social situation for women
living in Sharia law-based societies.
Anecdotal
evidence is supported by extracts from US State Department Reports on
the four countries in question. They focus on rape and domestic
violence, societal exclusion, oppressive dress codes, lack of legal
protection for women, female genital mutilation, child abuse, and
child marriage.
The
premise of Gilbert’s research is that violence experienced by
Christian women living in these countries can only be properly
understood within a general context of deep-seated prejudice and
aggression against women. This
prejudice stems from Islamic beliefs regarding the supposedly
dangerous nature of female sexuality, and the roots of these beliefs
are briefly detailed along with their implications.
Of
note is the continued assumption in these societies that females are
responsible for any sexual attack they experience. The result is that
shame clings to the victim following an assault and some victims are
even stoned. Gilbert
argues that in the context of societies where women are defined as
being of little worth and are shockingly vulnerable, it is not
surprising that Christian women are the targets of even greater
endemic violence as a means of driving out or neutralizing Christian
communities.
Nine
common forms of abuse perpetrated against Christian women in this
strategic intent are elaborated. A number of specific cases from
Pakistan and Egypt follow, which illustrate gender-based violence as
a deliberate means of destroying Christian families.
This
report also expresses a frustration at the lack of data available in
order to fully study the scope of the problem and explains why it is
so difficult to obtain reliable statistics. Perhaps
because of this dearth of complete information, Gilbert takes great
pains to address arguments which attempt to discount reports of
Christian persecution in Muslim lands.
Much
is made of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s public and unpopular
acknowledgement in November 2012 that Christianity is “the most
persecuted religion in the world”....
It
has been said that persecution is always personal and the tone of
Gilbert’s report reflects this view. Her well-documented report is
both passionate and categorical in its conclusion: gender-based
violence is an oft-used weapon wielded mercilessly against the most
vulnerable in Muslim lands with the express goal of breaking
Christians’ resolve.
©2013
World Watch Monitor
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