rape

Gender Violence, International

Confronting violence against women in India

In retrospect, it wasn’t that unusual of an event but would be one that finally broke the silence surrounding violence against women in the world’s second largest country.
On December 16, a 23-year-old medical student travelling with a male companion on a bus in New Delhi was beaten and gang raped by a group of 6 men for over an hour as the bus traveled across the city. When they were done, they threw her from the bus onto the road leaving her in critical condition.

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Community

Rape: Know more

If rape is facilitated by self-serving, cultural interpretations of religion, then teaching religion correctly is the answer to eradicating it. The early Muslim women, including Prophet Muhammad’s wife Khadijah (RA), were educated leaders who stood toe-to-toe with men who accepted, respected, and learned from them. The Qur’an itself states that strong, smart, ambitious women are invaluable allies in this life and in the next.

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Community

New Delhi gang-rape: Why we are the problem

“It appears to be that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines along. That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines,” he said.

I was at work when I read this. I had to leave my desk to go to the bathroom to cry. Through various points in the day, this detail drifted into my consciousness. I couldn’t un-read it. Or un-imagine it.

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Community

Rape for ethnic cleansing

To the victor go the spoils is the concept that has been used over history to legitimize wartime rape. This tradition of objectifying women during conflicts has not ceased during modern times. Despite the introduction of modern laws of warfare, armies exploit sexual violence systematically as in the cases of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the current situation in Darfur.

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