India Considers Chemical Castration for rape victims, along with other proposed changes.

After a 23-year-old girl was raped by six men in a moving bus in Delhi last month, young men and women launched protest rallies across the country.

When the Indian girl died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital two weeks after the attack, the mass outrage turned more virulent, with protesters demanding the death penalty for the six rapists and seeking stricter deterrents against growing violence against women in the country.

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 This week it came to light that the party was readying a draft bill to propose a tougher law to punish sexual attackers. Press Trust of India has reported that, for rape convicts, prison sentences of up to 30 years are to be proposed. The bill also includes a proposal for chemical castration of convicted rapists, in rare cases.

One of the six accused in the Delhi case is possibly a juvenile, being less than 18 years old. Although he reportedly inflicted the most fatal injuries on the girl, as a juvenile, he is likely to be let off with a mild punishment. The bill would also seek to reduce the age limit of those legally called "juveniles" from 18 to 15.In India it often takes years or even decades for a court to decide legal cases, including rape cases. The bill would propose to fast-track all rape cases so that they are settled within 3 months.

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Okay, I cannot believe that India takes this long to determine a trial. Settling it in three months would be a huge start. I also don't agree with the death penalty in any case, so thirty years along with chemical castration would be okay for me. Some argue the chemical castration is a bad idea because it's permanent and it can't be taken back if one is proven innocent. Perhaps they should have an appeals process before doing that.

I like the idea though because many rapists rape again. Child Molesters almost always violate again. Some of these people don't wait until they get out of prison, some rape in prison. Imagine if we could put a stop to it more often over here.

I also have to say I've been impressed with how men have reacted to the news of the woman being so brutally raped and killed. They've actually laid down in the streets to protest.

Crown Prosecution Service To Crack Down On Female Genital Mutilation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/23/female-genital-mutilation-crown-prosecution-service

Carrying out or assisting female genital mutilation has been a criminal offence since 1985. The law was made tougher in 2003 with the passing of the Female Genital Mutilation Act, which makes it an offence for UK citizens of permanent residence to take a child abroad for cutting, even where the practice is legal. The maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment.

But only three cases have ever been referred to the CPS – the first in 2010 – and not one of them made it to court. In the first case, the victim gave conflicting accounts of what happened, where it took place and who carried it out.

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 Prosecutions for female mutilation are particularly difficult because they could require a girl to implicate her own parents in a crime. There are also cultural taboos and communities may stay silent or close ranks. It is also hard to obtain reliable evidence if the crime is carried out abroad.

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I cannot believe that it was 1985 before they made female genital mutilation illegal in the United Kingdom. I would think that it's not only hard to prosecute due to a lack of evidence and kids not wanting to implicate their parents, but I think it's possible that these girls believe that what their parents are doing is right. They're being taught that for religious reasons, they need to have this done. They've been taught since day one that their parent's version of religion is correct, so why would they question it? Women usually support having their daughters "circumcised" to keep them from wanting to have sex before marriage. If grown women are convinced, then so are kids.

This means that it's probably up to third party witnesses such as midwives to let the secret out.  I'm surprised to hear that midwives are wanting the prosecution. I would have thought the family would ensure they brought somebody into their circle who supported their ideas one hundred percent. Obviously not.

Malala Yousafzai.

For those of you who don't know who she is, she is a fourteen year old girl from Pakistan. From where many kids here take education for granted, she took up for a girl's right to education. She stood up to the Taliban by posting about their abuses in a blog in 2009.  The Taliban decided they'd kill her for this. A while back, they shot her in the face. This provoked outrage in a lot of the world including the middle east. By a miracle, she survived.

Since then, it's been suggested that she be given the Nobel Peace prize.

More importantly, Pakistan has passed compulsory education for everybody.

Despite the attempted murder and their promise to try to finish off the job, Malala has stayed strong and pursuant. She has kept up her advocacy of girl's education, and insists that the Koran does not forbid education for girls. Fortunately, she's in Europe recovering, so she should be safe for now.

However, Islamic hardliners have declared a fatwa against her.
http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/ad9a089b585f7028d027b223a500dcf5/islamic-hardliners-announce-fatwa-on-malala-yousafzai

Anjem Choudary, who lives in East London and is one of the founders of al-Muhajiroun, which was banned in 2010, said the conference would announce the fatwa.

Although apostasy carries the death sentence according to Islamic law, he insisted he was not calling for Malala’s death.

"It's not a death sentence," he said. "It's about what is the reality of what's taking place and how she is being used as a tool for propaganda by the US and Pakistan, and for the crimes they are committing."

Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/ad9a089b585f7028d027b223a500dcf5/islamic-hardliners-announce-fatwa-on-malala-yousafzai#ixzz2D2YdocAS

I think it's important to continue to support compulsory education and to pray for the safety of Malala and anybody else brave enough to stand up to the Taliban.

Iranian Female Students Face Setbacks.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f64043fe-2e5b-11e2-8bb3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2CH6gIH3r

Because the company is asking not to copy and paste, I'll leave it at the link.

Long story short, they've been getting educated since the late 1970s with the promise that they would be subject to Islamic code. Now, it's believed that the men and women are mingling too much. Other arguments are being used that women are not using the education, that men are forcing them to stay home.

Okay, you can have separated classrooms without banning women from a whole bunch of them as the article says is happening. Still sort of 19th century like, but I'd go for it in the case of Iran. I can't help but think if women were running things, they'd actually think of and implement that.

Next, if your own fault if you have rules saying that men can keep their wives home after being educated. Imagine all the contribution that women can make to Iran by not getting married at all and then joining the workforce. (Nothing wrong with being a housewive, but these traditionalists have the nerve to use it against them).

The good news is that the younger people (including men) think this is bad policy. They think women should be treated more equal and that not treating them more equal will add to the instability that Iran already has. I think they're right.

So, I'm really pulling for Iran to come into the 19th century. Let's pray for that.

And people thought our affirmative action laws went too far.

Imagine a law that said that companies had to have at least forty percent of their board members be women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/business/global/eu-officials-expected-to-support-new-quota-proposal.html

BRUSSELS — Viviane Reding, the European Union justice commissioner, is expected to renew a bid on Wednesday to win approval for a law pushing large companies to have at least 40 percent of their board seats held by women.

The issue has divided the European Union, with Britain leading countries that regard the binding quotas as counterproductive and unworkable. Powerful business interests have also warned against quotas.

 

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Companies with boards in which less than 40 percent of the nonexecutive director positions were held by women would need to give priority to a woman in cases where “that candidate is equally qualified as a candidate of the other sex in terms of suitability, competence and professional performance.”

Public companies would have to disclose how their selections were made and could be required to prove they had followed the selection rules.

Countries could levy fines on noncompliant companies or create a system to annul appointments that were made contrary to the rules, according to the proposal.

 

So, the good news is that companies in the EU are about to have a lot more intelligence and creativity to them. Hehe. Just kidding. I had to get that in there.

I don't think that pushing for quotas this severe is a good idea. It only feeds the argument that the left just wants to control companies and people. Also, you don't want companies regulating companies out of business.

Rapist Says He Couldn't Stop.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/east-coast-rapist-suspect-acknowledges-attacks-in-several-states/2012/11/10/11cdbd1e-d87a-11e1-91e1-eed6436f6d13_story.html?tid=ts_carousel

Thomas says he is the East Coast Rapist: the man who terrorized women in the Washington area and New England beginning in the early 1990s, culminating in an attack on three trick-or-treating teenagers in Prince William County in 2009. His crimes, which spanned nearly half his life, gripped the region with the kind of fear that comes from an unknown man, lurking in the darkness, attacking strangers who were doing such everyday tasks as walking home from work, waiting for a bus, moving out of an apartment or even sleeping in their own bed.
 

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 “I need help with this problem. It’s serious,” Thomas said. “I don’t think I’m crazy, but something is wrong with me.”Thomas said he knew all along that what he was doing was wrong. “It’s something not right because people are getting hurt,” he said.
 

So apparently, he had an addiction and felt like he couldn't stop. So, what would be your recommendation for "helping" a guy like this stop? BTW, the article says he'll probably get more than one life term, so I think we're safe from him now.

Equal Opportunbity for Women to Perseute Each Other?

Some women in Egypt are so much on board with the Muslim Brotherhood and their persecution of women, that they want a part in it too.

The Muslim Sisterhood.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/10/muslim-sisterhood-women-from-egypt-fundamentalist-brotherhood-taking-on/

The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt has brought with it a new group of female politicians who say they are determined to bring more women into leadership roles — and at the same time want to consecrate a deeply conservative Islamic vision for women in Egypt.

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The number of women in prominent positions in Egyptian politics remains tiny, as it was under the ousted secular president, Hosni Mubarak. But in the new Egypt, if a woman does hold a high post, she's most likely a member of an Islamist group. Morsi has appointed three women — two of them Islamists — to his 21-member team of advisers and aides. Of the six women on the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, three are Brotherhood members.
Their vision is a world apart from that of liberal women's rights activists, who fear that Islamist women in power will only carry out the Brotherhood agenda of implementing its conservative interpretation of Islamic law.
 

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They talk about how they want equality for women so long as it doesn't interfere with Islamic law. What's wrong with that picture? Hmmmm. Let's see.

In a recent interview on state TV, she said that without the phrasing, certain rights that Shariah gives to men and not to women could be overturned — such as men's right to marry up to four women or inheritance laws that give a greater to share to men than women. Such polygamy and inheritance laws existed during the Mubarak era and in most Muslim countries.
Kamel, a 51-year-old doctor, dismissed fears that hardliners would use the clause to pass harsh restrictions on women, saying only rulings of Shariah that are "firmly established, with no controversy around them," like polygamy and inheritance, could be applied.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/10/muslim-sisterhood-women-from-egypt-fundamentalist-brotherhood-taking-on/#ixzz2BuAd0RSI

Why would any woman want this? Why should men take priority over women in regards to inheritance? Why should men get to marry up to three or four wives?

And if a woman wants to personally live that way, that's fine. I won't come and tell you not to wear a veil, to wear pants, or whatever.

What's wrong is when you work with those who want to persecute women to help them make sure they can do that in law.

However, another way of looking at things is that these women might be making things easier on women in Eygpt. Supposed equality might lead out to something good in Eygpt. Not sure what yet if it's the Muslim Brotherhood's version of equality, but we'll see.