NOTE: Some readers may find the text and images on this list disturbing. For most of our readers, the biggest troubles in their lives are petrol prices, long working hours, and increasing food costs. For many women in the world, these are the least of their concerns. Terrible atrocities are committed against untold numbers of women around the world every day and for most of these women, justice will never be served. This is a list of the worst of the atrocities. In no particular order:
Bride kidnapping is a common practice in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. When it is time to get married in Kyrgyzstan, a man or his family will pick a woman and she will be kidnapped. The prospective groom and his male relatives or friends or both abduct the girl (in the old nomadic days, on horseback; now often by car) and take her to the family home, where the older women of the family try to get her to accept the marriage. Some families will keep the girl hostage for several days to break her will. Others will let her go if she remains defiant. The kidnapped woman’s family may also become involved in the process, either urging the woman to stay if the marriage is believed to be socially acceptable or advantageous for the prospective bride and her family, or opposing the marriage on various grounds and helping liberate the woman.
In Ethiopia and Rwanda it is quite brutal, where the man kidnaps the woman and rapes her. The family of the woman either then feels obliged to consent to the union, or is forced to when the kidnapper impregnates her, as no one else would marry a pregnant woman.
Honor Killing is a punitive murder, committed by members of a family against a female member of their family whom the family and/or wider community believes to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman is usually targeted for: refusing an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce (even from an abusive husband), or committing adultery or fornication. These killings result from the perception that any behavior of a woman that “dishonors” her family is justification of a killing that would otherwise be deemed murder. UNICEF has reported that in India, more than 5,000 brides are killed annually because their marriage dowries are considered insufficient. As of 2004, honor killings have occurred within parts of various countries, such as Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.
Bride Burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. In bride burning cases it is alleged that a man, or his family, douses his wife with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and sets the woman alight, leading to death by fire.
Acid Attacks are a violent phenomena that primarily occur in Afghanistan. Perpetrators of these attacks throw acid at their victims (usually at their faces), burning them. The consequences include permanent scarring of the face and body as well as potential blindness. Acid attacks are sometimes referred to as vitriolage.
Female genital mutilation refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons. FGM is practiced throughout the world, with the practice concentrated most heavily in Africa. There have been many concerted efforts by the WHO to end the practice. Among practicing cultures, FGM is most commonly performed between the ages of four and eight, but can take place at any age from infancy to adolescence. The procedure, when performed without anesthetic, can lead to death through shock from immense pain or excessive bleeding.
Since the fall of the iron curtain, the impoverished former Eastern bloc countries such as Albania, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have been identified as major trafficking source countries for women and children. Young women and girls are often lured to wealthier countries by the promise of money and work and then reduced to sexual slavery. It is estimated that 2/3 of women trafficked for prostitution worldwide annually come from Eastern Europe, three-quarters have never worked as prostitutes before. The major destinations are Western Europe (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK and Greece), the Middle East (Turkey, Israel, the United Arab Emirates), Asia, Russia and the United States. An estimated 500,000 women from Central and Eastern Europe are working in prostitution in the EU alone.
In parts of Ghana, a family may be punished for an offense by having to turn over a virgin female to serve as a sex slave within the offended family. In this system of slavery of ritual servitude, young virgin girls are given as slaves in traditional shrines and are used sexually by the priests in addition to providing free labor. [Image above: two young female slaves]
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
Contributor: rushfan
The STOP HONORCIDE! campaign was launched on Mother’s Day 2008. The goal of the campaign is to prosecute honorcides to the fullest extent of the law.
Muslims Against Sharia – where are you from that “honor killings” are not already prosecuted to the full extent of the law? After all, murder is murder.
We want honorcide to be classified as a hate crime and we advocate for every existing hate crime legislation to be amended to include honorcide.
What is the significance, from the perspective of your organisation, of having honor killings classified as “hate crimes”?
I’m just curious…
kiwiboi:
I’m no lawyer, but… in the US, a “hate crime” is, unless I’m mistaken, the provenance of the Federal government. Therefore:
Say you have a situation where, oh… bunch of white rednecks lynch a black man. Happened many times. That’s murder. Murder is the provenance, except in special circumstances, of the State government. BUT… the white guys and all the other white guys around them–including the local police—conspire to hide the evidence, etc.—and the killers get off scot-free. Also happened, many times. BUT… it can be established that this was a HATE CRIME (and so it was) and so in steps the Feds, who aren’t going to be party to covering up the crime–and you get a conviction of the killers on this basis. Nope, they didn’t get convicted for murder–but they still go to prison and hopefully whilst there, they get pounded in the ass regularly.
HENCE, with “honorcide,” same thing–if you can’t get the evidence to convict on a MURDER charge (which is also very hard, requiring a more difficult-to-prove level of evidence) you can get them on a HATE CRIME. And off they go to PMITA prison, where justice is served.
note to self… Come back to this list.
Copperdragon, your first couple of comments made pretty good points, in my opinion. Men *have* suffered too, and we should not act as if only women are victims. Not that I even remotely agree with the notion that men have suffered the same amount, but still. I don’t know if you mean to come across that way or not, but the more you comment the more you sound like a woman hater. Do you hate women?
The things you describe do happen, but to make the sweeping decisions you seem to have made is a step backwards.
very informative and well written list rushfan.
one of my professors is a retired police officer and he shared with the class a story in which a young muslim male murdered his high school aged sister because he suspected she was having premarital ***** and when he was arrested he could not understand what was wrong with his act. He told police that he was simply fulfilling his duty as the eldest son and by arresting him the cops were disgracing his culture and the officers replied and im paraphrasing here “well, we’re not in your home country we’re in the United States and by killing someone your disgracing our culture.
it is truly sad that other cultures would kill or disown their daughters and wives because they were the victims of rapes. i cant comprehend that.
it’s like they’re a suspect when they were victimized
very informative and well written list rushfan.
one of my professors is a retired police officer and he shared with the class a story in which a young muslim male murdered his high school aged sister because he suspected she was having premarital ***** and when he was arrested he could not understand what was wrong with his act. He told police that he was simply fulfilling his duty as the eldest son and by arresting him the cops were disgracing his culture and the officers replied and im paraphrasing here “well, we’re not in your home country we’re in the United States and by killing someone your disgracing our culture.
it is truly sad that other cultures would kill or disown their daughters and wives because they were the victims of rapes. i cant comprehend that.
it’s like they’re a suspect when they were victimized
Randall(s) – I asked, in part, because we (in Britain) recently had a case where a Muslim guy had his daughter killed as an “honor killing”. There was no special treatment (nor need for special treatment) in terms of the justice system – it was murder, plain and simple. Found guilty as charged…received a life term.
The “hate crime” aspect also brought to mind the debate we had here (similarly, I think, in your own Supreme Court) weighing up the benefits of such a classification against attendant freedom of expression/belief liberties. Kind of touching on the “thought crimes” debate.
Re your examples, personally I’m not sure that using the “hate crime” designation as a “Plan B” if a prior conviction isn’t forthcoming is a particularly robust framework…but seeing as you made this point 5 times, I’ll continue to mull it over
something isnt quite right mate
kiwiboi; It isn’t only when there is a failure at the state level that the Hate crime laws come into effect. Sometimes it is a penalty issue as well, for instance; Swastikas painted on synagogues repeatedly. At the local level they would be prosecuted for vandalism, at the federal level they could go to jail. There are other occasions when it is preferable to prosecute at the federal level, I’m just not entirely sure of them; definitely not my area of expertise.
Nelia – physical size only goes so far. a snake can bring down a human. speed, stealth and strategy go a long way. you could be just as formidable as he, if you wanted to.
rushfan – hell, yes! the heroic things men do are not by choice, they’re by necessity because women can’t or won’t. glad to see your willing and able to share the load. when can you start?
randall – i love women as a gender, and as i said before, i’ll give full respect and credit to any woman who pulls her weight as much as a man. i’m just tired of the “protect me, save me, do things for me, what have you done for me lately” attitude.
Women get. Men give. and most of the rules of society are geared towards women getting more and men giving more.
but getting back on topic – i would not wish the listed atrocities on any woman (or man). i presented my list of atrocities visited on men (as a gender)(post #73). As a man, I should not have to suffer in silence any more than any woman should.
just because atrocities on men are different does not make them lesser.
killed is killed, whether by war or honor.
mutilated is mutilated, whether by acid, knife, bullet or burning.
imprisoned is imprisoned, whether by society or individual.
definitely not my area of expertise.
Mom – mine neither; which is largely why I was interested in hearing the original poster’s (yet to be received) response.
copper you are asking for it:)
can’t say i agree with you but i understand your point…sorta
real heroes don’t committ heroic acts to be honored they just do what is right
commit not committ
thx MPW and K.Inez – at least someone is hearing my point. you don’t have to agree to understand.
and you’re right – “real” heroes (not movie star heroes like Lee Marvin, Randall!) don’t commit heroic acts to be honored. They won’t even ask. But you can bet they’ll remember if they are or not. And its not even for what’s “right”. the young muslim in the story above was doing what he thought was “right”, based on his culture, his society and his upbringing. is he a hero? 9 out of 10 would say no, but it only matters in his mind.
Randall’s movie heroes were allowed to slap women, treat them like inferiors, sleep with and discard them. Hold a baby? never. Cook? not. Cry? can’t. Great heroes! almost on par with the perpetrators of today’s list.
I had a nice, lovely comment all made up and …. the page wouldn’t display. I get a lot of error messages from this site for some reason.
This does make me appreciate what I have. However, it’s hard to understand that these people view it as a normal behavior and the people who do know it’s horrible feel they’re in the minority and are afraid to speak up. It’s hard to defend yourself when you know you’ll be outnumbered.
However, through education, WE, can collaborate and make an effort to change the practices. Through simple acts such as this – making a list – we can spread knowledge and action. I plan on passing the link to this page all over the web.
I must say – in the comments here, I see a lot of emotional baggage…just for general knowledge here, therapy can really do wonders for people…
I also must say it’s amazing the gender roles people believe in, despite being in a privileged country! The difference is amazing – I grew up in a poor home that didn’t enforce gender roles for the most part. I love saying that my mother served as mom AND dad, protector and all. Despite her small body (5’5″ and 120lbs soaking wet after a Thanksgiving dinner), she managed to break the jaw of her ex-husband after he tried to hit her out of self-defense. He had her cornered and she punched him – this woman broke the jaw of a 6’3″ 220lb man.
Despite the fact men possess an advantage in terms of strength due to genetics, education and strength training can make a woman a fierce match.
Even after reading this list, I still support the study and encouragement of multiculturalism – I wouldn’t be studying ethnomusicology if I didn’t appreciate different cultures. However, they can maintain a sense of self without these wretched practices, or any other practices that are harmful and horrid like these. It’s up to the outsiders and strong people within the culture to stand up and teach them these are horrid practices, and the dedication to stick with the efforts over time.
We CAN help these people – even through small efforts. Pass the link to this list on to your favorite forums or other websites to spread awareness and activism. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1 other website or 10 other websites – it can make a difference.
FifthSonata -
sorry about that. i was having some issues on site as well. earlier it looked like some other folks were too w/ duplicate postings. so some ‘housework’ was done.
and it does look as though things are back to running smoothly now.
btw -
i find it helpful to ‘save’ my comments or write it up in an offsite ‘notepad’ before posting. there are times due to internet being funky, your own ISP acting weird or traffic overload problems onsite..that commenting and/or site access will be problematic. i do apologize for that and hopefully those kinds of issues will be resolved as quickly as possible.
(just a reminder continuing to hit enter will not make a comment appear if there are problems. post once. wait. and see if it resolves.)
Good list
women should be treated better
Fifth, good for your mother! I definitely wasn’t meaning to imply that women couldn’t defend themselves with my example. Hope I didn’t offend.
Copperdragon; Your attempt to equate your petty grievances with the atrocities on this list is ridiculous. Absolutely none of your experiences, or any of those you listed came about because men are treated as chattel. Sure you may lose your property, but you aren’t treated as property.
You earlier stated that you just wanted us to “not forget the other side”. There is no side on this list, and no argument. All you have done by man-whining is rob this important subject of some of its impact. Foolish fellow.
mom424 – spoken like a true priviledged woman. i weep for your husband, brothers, father, and sons; and for the unappreciated sacrifices they must make on your behalf.
copperdragon:
Just what the hell is that!!!! How do you know that mom424 hasn't made sacrifices for the males in her family?!!!!
Please don’t make this debate into feminist terms. Atrocities like this shouldn’t be labeled with other problems. I can see how woman are viewing this like feminists but all these problems are more specific and more brutal than feminist views like being looked at like objects and being called ***** etc. I know there’s domestic abuse in western society today but it’s more lack of education and poverty causing these diabolical acts shown in the list. I believe this more about being humane to any gender than one ***** although I do agree women are much more vulnerable and I can never understand, as a man, how they would feel. This is my own opinion and I don’t mean to offend anyone
Rushfan:
You should do another list, where you include (as you mentioned)
- female infanticide in china
- forced abortions by the government of china, even to the 9th month
- *****-selection abortions (mostly of females in China, India, and even here in the west)
- female footbinding (almost entirely gone now thanks to Protestant missionaries, but still something recent http://hvattum.net/index.php/2007/05/19/chinese-foot-binding/)
- forced polygamist marriage for very young girls (Islam, Mormon sects)
- forced ***** / ***** trade (esp. in Thailand)
- AIDS among Indian women whose truck-driver husbands frequent prostitutes while on the road
Copperdragon: you say you just want to make a point of telling the other side, but i found many of your comments *****ist and rude.
You can have an opinion, and state it, of course, but that doesn’t mean you have to be rude…
And what about many “beauty” traditions like lip rings, neck rings, and scarification?
http://singadventure.blogspot.com/2005/07/please-tell-me-why.html
Danni Lynn: (#6) that is exactly what I thought when I first read through this list – we think we have problems? I think we don’t!
I won’t even comment on Captain Misogyny, although it does distress me that strawnman attacks, myths and biased personal grievances should emerge in otherwise heartfelt discussions about true gender-based suffering. Men suffer in all sorts of individual ways, sometimes horrifically, sometimes at the hands of individual women or groups of women, but as a ***** they have the dominant role in most cultures, and that’s why women are frequently the ‘easy targets’ in societies where justice and human rights are scarce. Don’t go complaining about how men are oppressed because they’re ‘oopsed by moos’ and there aren’t car insurance companies just for men and it’s all POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAAAAD! You don’t know the meaning of suffering, and neither do I, but the people who suffer the atrocities mentioned in this list (and countless more where that came from) know it more than any human being ever should.
I can’t stand by the attitude that we should all be wallowing in Western guilt. What would that achieve and who would it help? Also, unfortunately, there is often very little we can do. I read this list and tomorrow I will carry on my normal, carefree life, and it’s not because I don’t care. I don’t have the money, the resources or the power to do anything BUT care. I can work on behalf of charities and organisations but I can’t help them all and I can’t help all of the people all of the time. What I guess I’m saying is that we shouldn’t be apathetic, but we would go mad we took it on ourselves to be eaten alive by the guilt and pain on behalf of every suffering man, woman and child. It’s not wrong to say ‘This saddens me’ or ‘This angers me’, but to not be out there on the front lines.
i personnally feel that both men and women have difficulties in society some just have it worse.
today a woman with an equal amount of education as a man would make less money for the same amount of work
why is that?
and in America that land of the free we have yet to have a woman as our leader, whereas nations like britain and even some middle eastern countries already have.
i think a woman would do a fine job as president as long as it is not Clinton.
Back to the point, the atrocities against women listed above are more or less the tip of the iceberg, in Afica,when a young womAn looses her husband, the general belief of the family is that she killed him with witchcraft, so she is forced to sleep in thesame room with the corpse and she must drink the water used to wash the corpse, if nothing happens to her afterwards,then she is blameless. IMAGINE THAT! can any of you go through taht and still keep her senses?
Nelia – You didn’t offend me at all! My mother has taken several self-defense courses so she has knowledge of weak points on the human body, male or female.
Spinks – we can be part of the help and I personally think every bit we do counts for something. I don’t have the money either and I do the same things you do – work for charities and organizations I agree with. That’s why we have them – it may not feel like you’ve done something special after a few phone calls or help with a few programs, but you have.
Spinks – “Captain Misogyny”
That’s funny stuff!
kunle, crazy
i also heard that in a certain african village when a boy is to become a man his sisters allow males from neighboring villages to beat them with whips and sticks as a sign of respect to their brother and family and the bigger the scars the better.
dgsinclair ~ There will have to be a second list, thanks for the ideas (141 & 143) I also recently heard on NPR that in Kenya they still burn “witches”.
MWP ~ The “equal pay for equal work” debate has changed as feminism has evolved. I consider myself a feminist, even though I do not in any way fit the mold of a leftist modern-day feminist. When you factor in things like time off for maternity leave, years taken off the rear young children until they enter school, etc. women are often more of a liability than men to hire. Say a company invests the time and money to hire and train and groom a female employee who then takes a few (well-deserved) years off to be with her kids, the company looses. As a society, we need to find a way to evolve to meet our current needs instead of keeping the status quo. Now that would be real change, Mr Obama.
oh my god, that is so horible!
i really hope nothing like this would ever happen to me
rushfan your list is far better than mine. my writing was terrible. it was late. good job rushy
MPW not MWP:)
why do i keep doing that??
i’m so sorry. what was your list??
good point fanrush…. i mean rushfan:)
MPW:
I read with interest your story about the former police officer professor. It was a good story, with a great point, one I wish everyone who has immigrated to the U.S.A. should be obligated to learn.
There was an article in (I think) The Guardian, wherein the Australian PM pretty well laid it on the line to immigrants: Learn our language and our way of life or go elsewhere.
Harsh?
I might have said so 30 years ago. Not anymore.
We used to be proud of being a melting-pot. Now, it’s not p.c. to ask someone from another country to learn how to live in America.
That’s wrong.
And, btw, even though as far as race and age and gender is concerned I was supposedly HRC’ “target” group, I was never a fan.
Must have been all that University education.
it was about yellow people….doh!
“captain misogyny”?
“oopsed by moos”?
“political correctness gone mad”?
I will state for the THIRD time – I would not wish the listed atrocities on any woman (or man).
However, I am entitled to my views and opinions just as the rest of you are.
segue, thanks. he’s an interesting guy with a bunch of great stories
COOL! Love the Simpsons! I’ve been watching them since you were…let’s see…wait, you were a fetus
yes, i have been watching it since i was fetus
copperdragon
As I’ve been reading the seemingly controversial debate between you and Mom424, Randall, Nelia, and the others who have put in their two cents, I was almost surprised at how constructive the conversation has remained on their end.
I’m still puzzled as to what you hope to gain from this petty banter back and forth, as you have yet to answer Rushfan’s question “What is it that you want? More memorials? More credit? More women to suffer and die so you can feel better about the fact that men also suffer and die? ”
As we can all agree both men and women throughout history have suffered unnecessary tribulation, but you are taking this list completely out of context. This list has done a powerful job through use of imagery and information to bring light to such a serious issue that the average person either doesn’t know about or chooses not to acknowledge. I’m sure any man (presumably including yourself) would choose to provide for a family, a circumcision (in a sterile hospital performed by a trained professional, mind you), etc. over the FGM, honour killings, and every other atrocity that has been brought to light on this list! For the record, how many men have you heard of that have died from a routine circumcision, as opposed to the numerous accounts of females dying every day from this heinous, unethical “opperation”. I can’t think of a single case off hand.
As Mom424 has already appropriately said before I, you are merely “[robbing] this important subject of some of its impact”
I hope you’re getting what you came for out of this ‘debate’ but more importantly I hope that this list gets the exposure that it should.
I’ve said my peace, and shall leave it at that.
Kudo’s Rushfan, powerful list!
well said, jumbie
actually i was born already so i guess i wasnt a fetus but definitely a baby.
what year did it debut? 1989?
i was born in 1988. the year of the dragon. i believe im one of the youngest LV’ers
See, up to this point I *liked* copperdragon. I’ve read a lot of his comments and appreciated his wisdom. But now he just sounds like a bitter, divorced man who got the shaft. (And before you say it, yes, I’m a true, priviledged woman and am thankful for that.)
I get your point, but there are ways of saying it that don’t make you out to be an ass. First, comparing FGM and circumcision is like comparing firecrackers to missiles. Are you circumcized? Do you remember it (and the pain)? Likely, the answer is no. Even my cousin, who was circumcized when he was 7, was put out and never felt a thing. Women who are mutilated without anesthesia, usually in dirty back alleys with un-hygienic tools. A good portion will die from infection before they are married.
One must point out whether murder or rape is worse. I mean, think about it- you’re either gone and moved on or you deal with the pain of rape for the rest of your life. The night tremors, the depression, the fear, the mental instability.
You’ve just gone beyond making a point, the “other side”, to flailing insults at disenters. You’ve lost, give it up.
I totally agree with you and am glad that you managed to put it out forthright and bluntly speaking, so GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘However, I am entitled to my views and opinions just as the rest of you are.’
And I’m entitled to play a jolly round of anti-feminist bingo.
But the ‘moos’ and ‘political correctness gone mad’ bits of my post weren’t meant to be quoting you. I was creating false complaints based roughly on real *****ist comments I’ve heard (yeah, even the one about how men are more oppressed in this society because of Diamond bloody Car Insurance). Just expressing my frustration about how people forget the real and terrible inequalities and injustices that happen in the world.
match, game, set.
more like hook, line, sinker but that works just as well
Oh yeah, hi Vera Lynn. What’s crackibn’?
crackin’
I am glad that the majority responses for this list are that these acts against women should not be tolerated nor condoned. Great List as usual. Each of us needs to continuely stress that this behavior is not acceptable regardless of where we live on this planet.
Such a sick, sick world.
What I find amazing is how a lot of the people commenting haven’t heard about EVERY SINGLE ONE of these and more. How can you be oblivious to it? That’s also disgusting.
copperdragon: I am privileged; I live in a free society where when I embarrass my family (which is often) they don’t have the right to stone me to death. I live in a country where I don’t have to worry about being held down and having all my good bits hacked off with a rusty tin can lid in order to control me. I live in a society where *****ing of my husband doesn’t result in being bathed in acid.
Privileged in the sense you mean? I think not. I am from a working class family. With a high school diploma. My husband is a factory worker. Again showing that you know not of what you speak.
this stuff scares the ***** out of me. and i ***** about things like my job or my boyfriend…
okay then. reality check in progress, thanks very much. AAAH! oh for *****’s sake… this is so wrong, i can’t even believe that things like this actually go on.
copperdragon: sure, you have your opinion just as the rest of us do. that’s part of the beauty of this site, we all can openly express our thoughts and remarks.
check out mine….
go to hell. weep for whomever the ***** you want to. oh, and jfrater is the moderator of this site last time i checked, and wally can say whatever he wants. and you can pop off and say chauvinistic comments whenever you desire. and we can all mock you just as WE desire.
so go on mom424… we’re all laughing with you.
in the true essence of this list, what’s say we all dress him in a wig and toss him to the sharks in such above mentioned 3rd world countries? potentially crossing the line, but what the hell…
now go off somewhere and play dungeons and dragons, hmm?
rushfan, thank you for bringing these atrocities to light. I hope that I will be able to help these women in some way – I need to do some research to find out how to do that. I am reminded of an old “In Living Color” sketch, a fake commercial that stated: “White-Out: because if you can’t see it, you can pretend it doesn’t exist!”
You have helped many of us to see these horrendous acts, so that we are forced to admit to ourselves that they DO exist. That’s when we can begin to search for a solution.
copperdragon (#73): as a man (but more importantly as a human being) I would happily stay behind on a sinking ship to allow the women and children to go first. I am also happy to be the sole breadwinner if it means my children will have a better upbringing by having their mother at home with them. I agree that some of the things you mention are bad – but not all are, and they are certainly not as bad as the things we see on this list. However, your comment is very thought provoking – so thanks for that.
Bob (#12): indeed! I wonder if this list does alter people’s opinions on the death penalty. It doesn’t alter mine, but I was already in favor of it to begin with
I have heard of all of these, and more. FGM is often done with broken glass or old razors. And the pain must be considered (cannot think of the word I want). The clitoris the very center of pleasure is being Cut Off! The labia are sewn together so only urine and menstrual blood can escape. The infection rate is huge. Women are in pain many times for life. It hurts ALL the time. And then on their wedding nights, they are cut open again (scar tissue) to allow the penis to penetrate. Much more severe than a circumsision done with a very sharp, clean tool.
In some parts of Africa, people think AIDS and HIV can be cured by having ***** with a virgin. It will cleanse them (WTF).
To be silent when one should be vocal makes cowards out of men (mankind not putting the onus on man)
I do not agree with Copper but will defend to the end his right to speak. Once you start denying people the right to say what they want, who decides what is too much? That’s a scary place to go.
Mel: #96 Spot On!
MPW: Hey good evening. Long day. Graduation was today.