Unequal and Unethical Treatment of Women in the Middle East

History shows many instances of discrimination and unequal rights for women. Women have been looked down upon and been abused by men in many different countries and cultures. There is a history for inequity of women, especially domestic violence and abuse. These dilemmas have been going on for the many years in the past, and are still going on today, especially in Middle Eastern countries. One major aspect of the situation of abuse towards women is involved with marriage. In many Middle Eastern countries, it is common for parents to arrange or even force a marriage, and for the children to have no say in it (Child Brides). I believe that this is a large part of the cause for aggression and abuse against the women. In an article from Gaza City called Abuse of Women Still Rife in Palestinian Life, Says Study ¬, a girl named Saana described how she had to endure beating from her father and then her husband as well. Saana’s father arranged a marriage for her, and in the second week of marriage her husband started beating her. He had no apparent reason for beating her. Also, after marrying this man, Saana found out that he had been conducting another relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Her husband eventually dumped her back at her parents’ house. In this culture, divorced women have very bad reputations, no matter what the situation is. Because of this, Saana returned home from her physically abusive husband to verbal abuse from her father. Studies in Gaza show that â€Å"†¦more than one in five women say they suffer physical domestic violence but there is not a single women's shelter. † (Abuse of Women). Although many women are being abused, the government is doing very little, if anything to help them. Even law enforcement officers are very biased. There is basically nothing keeping men from abusing women. Penalties for men who kill or hurt their wives are very insignificant. Also, only male relatives are allowed to file incest charges on behalf of children. Police routinely ‘mediate’ causes of sexual and physical abuse by returning the victims to the ‘care’ of the perpetrators, which obviously doesn’t help the victim at all. Very few women have submitted complaints, though there is so much abuse going on. This may be because they are afraid of their husbands finding out that they complained, and for that reason beating them even more. An article written in 2006 mentioned that of 85 cases of rape in 2003, only in one single case resulted in conviction. (Abuse of Women). According to other online articles, some families arrange marriages for their daughters as young as 7 years old (Child Brides). For example, there was one court case in Saudi Arabia in which a father wanted to allow his 8-year-old daughter to get married to a 47-year-old man. The mother of the daughter was divorced from the father. A relative stated that the mother was determined on getting the marriage overturned. (Eight-year-old girl’s Marriage) There are also some miscellaneous issues about to rights of women, unrelated to marriage. One such example is that women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive cars. A well-known Islamic Scholar named Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni stated that this rule is based on religious reasons. Al-Qarni set out four clarifying statements: â€Å"One: I do not see women driving cars in our country because of the consequences that would spring from it such as the spread of corruption, women uncovering their hair and faces, mingling between the sexes, men being alone with women and the destruction of the family and society in whole. Two: Sadd Al-Dharaie principle (the closing of doors which could lead to corruption or sinful actions) is one of the values in our religion. Women driving cars is a sinful thing. It is used by those who want to wage a war against purity and hijab. Three: One of the principles of our religion is protecting honor and moral values. Women driving cars would threaten these principl es because of the dire consequences resulting from it. Four: Such public issues must be brought up with the certified religious institution who have the say in such matters as I have said many times before. (Women Driving Cars Is a Sinful Thing: Al-Qarni). Though it may be that a religion includes a rule disallowing women to drive, the women should have a right to choose whether to follow this religious rule or not, and not have to endure any legal punishment if they choose not to. Though it seems that the idea of equal rights for women in the Middle East is an impossible notion, there are actually people who care and are working to solve this issue. In Gaza, there have been non-governmental organizations that have been dedicating effort to reduce domestic violence n the area. One such organization featured on BBC News concluded that a major role in domestic violence is the frustration in men after the stress of political and social issues in Gaza. Abu Fahdi, a former abuser, said, â€Å"For us, the war really begins after the military war is over. Here in Gaza men are supposed to be providers. The siege, the strikes, in one way or another they affect all households in Gaza – poverty, hunger, homelessness. Men are really frustrated. They sometimes take it out on their wives. In Gaza, however, there are few places for a woman to run. â€Å"There are no shelters here. Just clinics where women can get comfort, advice or anti-depressants – more often than not, without their husbands knowing. † (Gazan Women). Psychiatrist Suha Mousa works with women that have faced abusive husbands. She says it’s difficult to work with these women because it can get complicated to intervene in their family lives. She explains that if a husband divorces his wife or if she leaves him and returns home to her father's house, she could lose all access to her children. It is thought by many that the Islam religion includes unequal rights for women. This is because the Islam religion requires women to be ‘modest’ and wear headscarves to hide their hair and skin. These restrictions make people believe that women are lower than men. Female member of parliament Jamila al-Shanti disagrees greatly with this idea. She believes that a reason for domestic violence is less-than-adequate amount of respect for women. â€Å"From the moment of birth, a baby boy is celebrated. A baby girl is accepted,† she says. Jamila al-Shanti believes that when people say that â€Å"Islam dictates that women should be at the bottom of the pile,† it is not Islam; it is bad traditions and habits that cause this harsh judgment of women. It is the opinion of human rights groups that laws in Gaza deal with cases of violence much too leniently. They usually consider issues like domestic violence or even cases of husbands murdering their wives family affairs. (Gazan Women) These issues in Gaza, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries cause pain and suffering to be part of every-day life for women. As time passes, people work hard to stop such problems that degrade women. They may never be completely wiped out, but they can be greatly reduced if enough people dedicate themselves towards helping this cause. Women deserve equal rights as much as men do, and this is expressed in the Declaration of Human Rights. Works Cited â€Å"8-year-old Girl's Marriage Ruled Legal – UPI. com. † Latest News, Latest News Headlines, News Articles, News Video, News Photos – UPI. com. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. . Adler, Katya. â€Å"BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gazan Women Face Rise in Abuse. BBC News – Home. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. . Macintyre, Donald. â€Å"Abuse of Women Still Rife in Palestinian Life, Says Study – Middle East, World – The Independent. † The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. . Qusti, Raid. â€Å"Women Driving Cars Is a Sinful Thing: Al-Qarni. † Arab News Newspaper. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. . Stritof, Sheri , and Bob Stritof. â€Å"Child Brides — Forced Marriage of Children — The Problem of Early Marriages. † Marriage — THE Starting Place for Exploring Marriage and Marriage Issues. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. .