Afghan father sells 6-yo daughter into marriage for a goat, bag of rice

a reply to: MOMof3

actually it was our military strategies against the soviet union that caused afghanistan to be such a crappy place.

www.boredpanda.com...

we gave the taliban and their saudi friends the weapons to gain power.

originally posted by: Swills
Well, the parents are saying the girl was abducted, so who do you believe? The crazy pedo or the parents?

Damn, the RT story and the Independents story are oddly different.

www.independent.co.uk...

Hahaha! Some reliable source!

That independent article does not mention"muslim" or "islam" one single time. They just call this muslim Imam an "afghan cleric".

a reply to: Snarl

Not having a go at you just trying to understand where you were coming from......it could of course just be my brain is not functioning ....i blame the pain meds

a reply to: dawnstar

Our military strategies.....yes, well, I am sure we have done a lot of damage. That is what the military is for, violence. I think their religion has been around far longer than we. And their subjugation of women, girls, and boys.

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: Muffenstuff
FYI the ages old practice of the Hindus having the parents arrange marriages has a high rate of success as most Hindus marry and stay married, happily.

Oh, for Heaven's sake, there is no evidence that arranging someone's marriage is remotely beneficial. The fact that there is a low divorce rate in Hindu families is probably down to societal and community pressures on women to conform, than the fact the a marriage based on duty and not love is better.

This is why forced marriage is illegal in the UK and that includes coercing women into "arranged" marriages.

It's all down to abuse of women's rights, whatever way you cut it.

Oh, do you live amongst the Hindus and have evidence of your belief that the practice is wrong?

Or are you just judging that which you don't understand and thus fear?

There is loads of evidence that Hindus divorce far less often than Americans and even Christians (who have a horrible history of abusive towards women teachings in their Old and New Testament until the modern era of equality).

I know for a fact many denominations have misogynist practices to this day. Meanwhile the Hindus are a very respectable, respectful people with a great deal of honor and also hospitality to refugees.

And the goddess Kali has the duty of protecting people from spousal abuse and it is said she will come to the aid of the abused and end the marriage if it's abusive.

You simply have no clue what you are talking about (the reason you could only say "probably") and that's actually really obvious. I suggest you research facts before making comments that aren't based on evidence.

a reply to: MOMof3

History of women's rights

Afghanistan had a relatively progressive attitude towards women and equality before the Soviet invasion and the subsequent emergence of the Taliban. Afghan women were first given the vote in 1919 – only a year after women in Britain – and the country's first constitution in 1923 guaranteed equal rights for both men and women. The strict dress code enforced in much of modern-day Afghanistan was non-existent for much of the 20th century, and even female members of the royal family appeared in public without veils.

www.theweek.co.uk...

here's a timeline showing the progression, and restriction of women's rights in the country...
www.afghan-web.com...

I am reading conflicting dates as to when women were first allowed to vote, but it's quite possible that they were given that right before the women in the US were.

here's an interesting audio of a women speaker who has experienced the change from a more liberated afghanistan to the taliban rule, to the american occupation.

audioboom.com...

in afghanistan, the US wanted to remove the central power of the communist gov't, which with all it's downfalls did elevate women to pretty much full equality with men at least in the major urban areas. our gov't reached out to the less urban, less developed areas where the central gov't was trying to enforce itself onto them, with those elevated rights being part of the package. (sound familair yet?) those that the us gov't reached out to, used religion to decry that elevation or women as a way of gaining the support the us needed to cause the conflict that would bring the Soviet Union into the country and eventually cause the downfall of the soviet union...

or at least that is my understanding of history, with a few assumptions added in.

in reality, the koran seems to give far more rights to women than the bible does, and it certainly didn't justify the way the taliban treated women! matter of fact, that kind of treatment went very much against what the koran taught!
they closed off the bath houses to women.
they insisted that they paint the windows of their homes black so no light could shine through.
they wanted them to go about silently if they had to venture outside their homes covered from head to toe, like ghosts.
and, because they closed the bath houses off, and the koran dictates the people bath before entering the mosques, they blocked the women from the holy places... which the koran specifically tells them not to do!!! but well, in the christian bible, it just tells the women to obey the husband in all things, which can lead to an "oh, if he doesn't want her to be in church, then maybe she shouldn't be here..."

I'm afraid I've gone a little off track here, so I am going to jump over to what I wanted to say...

think about the political state of the US today...
the majority in the big cities are predominately liberal dems, the more rural areas, the southern, more religious, south is more conservative republican. and what I am so often hearing from the conservative republicans is their dislike for the central gov't preferring state (tribal??) control instead, a return to "christain values", and a very anti-feminist stance..

gee, add in the destruction of a few decades of war killing off most of our men, and the poverty it would cause....
maybe we'd be in about the same place as they were? different god, different beliefs, but same state of affairs.

a reply to: dawnstar

Thank you for sharing that. I did read it all and it did soften my heart, some. You are preaching to the choir about the invasion of Afghan, or any war. I actively protest wars and did the Afghan with the only power I have. I wrote letters and sent emails. But, you saw how the Dixie Chicks were treated speaking out, I am sure.

What laws do they have that protect girls, boys, and women from abuses and forced marriages?

a reply to: MOMof3

I am pretty sure that they have passed laws now, but let me ask you something....
as far as our laws, we have laws against spousal abuse, we have laws against rape, we have laws against employment discrimination, and wage discrimination... do these laws protect us in every instance, in every area of the country, in every workplace? they don't do they? I believe that such things are even a little more acceptable in some areas of the country than others, regardless of what laws say. and we are a well advanced country, with federal law enforcement that has a wide reach, not afghanistan with it's large area that is mostly ruled by tribal leaders that their central gov't can't really have much influence over. much like many middle east countries that are so often criticized. by blowing the hades out of the country, forcing those central gov'ts our of power, we are just creating more fertile lands for the tribal powers to take control. and just like some of our rural areas here in the states, it's their tribal lands that not only do the religions have more influence, but often times, the beliefs are more conservative.

a reply to: Muffenstuff

India is predominantly a Hindu country and has a parlous record of the treatment of women and girls. India's gender development is low, as is gender equality.

Arranging marriages is all about control, and inter-family and caste relationships. It's a step from arranging a marriage to "pressure" and "forced".

In the developed world women and men make their own choices. They are free to marry for love and divorce when it all fails. Not much freedom in arranged marriages and male control. Remember honour killings happen in India.

a reply to: dawnstar

I remember a time when we did not have domestic violence laws. There was no where to go for justice or protection. Of course no law works perfectly, but none at all is worse.