Islam And Radical Feminists

[Coyote]

Malawi is majority Christian. It has one the highest rates of child marriages. And, a feminist trying to put an end to it.

Theresa Kachindamoto, the terminator of child marriages

She was shocked when she saw girls as young as 12 with babies and teenaged husbands, and was soon ordering the people to give up their ways

"I told them: 'Whether you like it or not, I want these marriages to be terminated.'"

A 2012 United Nations survey found that more than half of Malawi's girls were married before the age of 18. It ranked Malawi 8th out of 20 countries thought to have the highest child-marriage rates in the world.

Last year, Malawi's parliament passed a law forbidding marriage before the age of 18. But under customary law of the traditional authorities, and the constitution, Malawian children can still marry with parental consent.

On the human development index, Malawi is considered as one of the world's poorest places, ranking 160th out of 182 nations. Early marriage is more common in rural areas, where parents are eager to get girls out of the house to ease their financial burden.

Emilida Misomali is part of a mothers group in the village of Chimoya, in Dedza district. They warn parents about the long-term ills of early marriage and childbirth, but say it falls on deaf ears.

"Most of them say 'It's better that she gets married. We can't afford to keep her ... she will make us poorer'," Misomali tells.

No matter the rationale, whether better health, education or wellbeing, Misolmali says "stubborn parents" won't stop giving away their children.

"We see a lot of complications, like cesarean births and girls cut as their bodies are too small to give birth."

Sexual initiation

In this area - outside Kachindamoto's jurisdiction - Misomali says that chiefs and police "can't intervene" as the community backlash is too strong.

The litany of sexually abusive traditions here include sending girls bound for marriage away to camps for "kusasa fumbi" - which means cleansing.

Reportedly at these sexual initiation camps , the girls are taught 'how to please men' by performing titillating dances and sex acts. Some "graduate" only by having sex with the teacher. Others return home untouched, only to be preyed on by a local "hyena" - men hired by parents to take their girls' virginity, or by prospective husbands to impregnate them.

In a country where one in 10 people is infected with HIV, these rites of passage - which rarely involve the use condoms - can sentence girls to a lifetime of trauma, and an early death.

According to Kachindamoto, who has banned these kinds of cleansing rituals, girls as young as seven are sometimes sent to these places.

"I said to the chiefs that this must stop, or I will dismiss them," Kahindamoto says
What she has done is a miracle for these girls:

• Over the past three years, Kachindamoto has broken up more than 850 marriages, and sent all of the children involved back to school.
• Kachindamoto says she often pays for, or finds other sponsors to pay for, the schooling of girls whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees.
• Through a network of "secret mothers and secret fathers" in the villages, Kachindamoto checks that parents aren't pulling girls out of school. She sends in outside allies to keep them there.

India is majority Hindu, and in the top ten countries with the highest rates of child marriages.

A 9 year old and a child molester is a BIT different then a 12 year old bride and teenage husband. While I would still object the pervert would be dealt with first.

I don't see much difference between 9 and 12....not in this day and age. Neither should be married, have children, deprived of education - it's flat out horribly wrong.

The thing that IS different is I do NOT see women marching FOR Christians and child marriage. I do NOT see Jews march FOR child marriage. But I DO see liberal feminists march FOR Sharia AND islam which IS child marriage.

Where do you see liberal feminists marching FOR Sharia?

(and no, Sharia and Islam are not child marriage)

Organizer For DC Women’s March, Linda Sarsour Is Pro Sharia Law with Ties To Hamas

She's not marching for Sharia.

 

[Coyote]

The subject DOES require morals and ethics indeed, and that includes looking beyond religion don't you think? For example...

Child Marriages
or
Not All Super Heros Wear Capes...

Notice how few conservatives touched it

Here is what is really horrific. Not just this, what is happening to girls in unstable countries, where there is little oversight, economic deprivation, conflict so bad that families feel it's safer for their daughters to be married then finish school.

I have yet to find it NOT tied to a religion or a tribal culture which IS its own religion.

Culture and religion are interrelated but they aren't the same.

Sad Facts about Child Marriage You Should Know
Causes of Child Marriage
Child marriage has many causes: cultural, social, economic and religious. In many cases, a mixture of these causes results in the imprisonment of children in marriages without their consent.

Poverty: Poor families sell their children into marriage either to settle debts or to make some money and escape the cycle of poverty. Child marriage fosters poverty, however, as it ensures that girls who marry young will not be properly educated or take part in the workforce.

"Protecting" the girl's sexuality: In certain cultures, marrying a girl young presumes that the girl's sexuality, therefore the girl's family's honor, will be "protected" but ensuring that the girl marries as a virgin. The imposition of family honor on a girl's individuality, in essence, robbing the girl of her honor and dignity, undermines the credibility of family honor and instead underscores the presumed protection's actual aim: to control the girl.

Gender discrimination: Child marriage is a product of cultures that devalue women and girls and discriminate against them. "The discrimination," according to a UNICEF report on "Child Marriage and the Law," "often manifests itself in the form of domestic violence, marital rape, and deprivation of food, lack of access to information, education, healthcare, and general impediments to mobility."

Inadequate laws: Many countries such as Pakistan have laws against child marriage. The laws are not enforced. In Afghanistan, a new law was written into the country's code enabling Shiite, or Hazara, communities to impose their own form of family law--including permitting child marriage.

Trafficking: Poor families are tempted to sell their girls not just into marriage, but into prostitution, as the transaction enables large sums of money to change hands.

Some if not many cultures have their own religion, native American tribes differ greatly but many have a culture of various spirits.

They can be interrelated but they aren't the same. Culture can include religion - and religion and culture influence each other. For example, female genital mutilation and honor killing are cultural - not religious. FGM originated in Egypt and N. Africa (where it's practiced by all the religious groups in the cultures where it's endemic). It became more pervasive, with the spread of Islam, because it was part of that particular culture, though there is nothing in Islam demanding it.

And the argument could be made in Male Genital Mutilation as practiced by the Jewish faith. Can you name a culture WITHOUT a religion?

Pirahã - Wikipedia
Also communist cultures

 

[DarkFury]

I have yet to find it NOT tied to a religion or a tribal culture which IS its own religion.

Culture and religion are interrelated but they aren't the same.

Sad Facts about Child Marriage You Should Know
Causes of Child Marriage
Child marriage has many causes: cultural, social, economic and religious. In many cases, a mixture of these causes results in the imprisonment of children in marriages without their consent.

Poverty: Poor families sell their children into marriage either to settle debts or to make some money and escape the cycle of poverty. Child marriage fosters poverty, however, as it ensures that girls who marry young will not be properly educated or take part in the workforce.

"Protecting" the girl's sexuality: In certain cultures, marrying a girl young presumes that the girl's sexuality, therefore the girl's family's honor, will be "protected" but ensuring that the girl marries as a virgin. The imposition of family honor on a girl's individuality, in essence, robbing the girl of her honor and dignity, undermines the credibility of family honor and instead underscores the presumed protection's actual aim: to control the girl.

Gender discrimination: Child marriage is a product of cultures that devalue women and girls and discriminate against them. "The discrimination," according to a UNICEF report on "Child Marriage and the Law," "often manifests itself in the form of domestic violence, marital rape, and deprivation of food, lack of access to information, education, healthcare, and general impediments to mobility."

Inadequate laws: Many countries such as Pakistan have laws against child marriage. The laws are not enforced. In Afghanistan, a new law was written into the country's code enabling Shiite, or Hazara, communities to impose their own form of family law--including permitting child marriage.

Trafficking: Poor families are tempted to sell their girls not just into marriage, but into prostitution, as the transaction enables large sums of money to change hands.

Some if not many cultures have their own religion, native American tribes differ greatly but many have a culture of various spirits.

They can be interrelated but they aren't the same. Culture can include religion - and religion and culture influence each other. For example, female genital mutilation and honor killing are cultural - not religious. FGM originated in Egypt and N. Africa (where it's practiced by all the religious groups in the cultures where it's endemic). It became more pervasive, with the spread of Islam, because it was part of that particular culture, though there is nothing in Islam demanding it.

And the argument could be made in Male Genital Mutilation as practiced by the Jewish faith. Can you name a culture WITHOUT a religion?

Pirahã - Wikipedia
Also communist cultures

You did well with the Piraha. However enforced Atheist cultures do NOT qualify as the Atheists have buildings and written material to support their thinking just like religion so a communist is enforced religion.